Long Island MS-13 Kingpin Sentenced to 25 Years

ICE Homeland Security Investigations agents arrest a suspected MS-13 gang member and Honduran national in Brentwood, N.Y., on March 29, 2018. (John Moore/Getty Images)

A Long Island La Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) transnational gang leader was sentenced to 25 years of imprisonment.

Ronald Catalan, 30, also known as“Stranger” and “Extrano” was allegedly a gang leader of the Brentwood Locos Salvatruchas (BLS).

Catalan pleaded guilty to racketeering charges and conspiracy to distribute cocaine and marijuana and other offenses, including a Brentwood shooting in 2009 and a 2015 Bay Shore shooting which caused three people to be wounded.

He was also found guilty of illegally using guns that were involved in violent crimes.

“Catalan will deservedly spend decades in prison for the violent and brutal acts he committed and directed others to carry out as a leader of the MS-13.  His ruthless and retaliatory attacks on his so-called ‘rivals’ to enhance his own status in the MS-13 demonstrate his complete and callous disregard for human life,” Mark J. Lesko, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York said.

“Working with our partners on the FBI’s Long Island Gang Task Force, this Office will continue its relentless pursuit of justice for the victims of the MS-13 and will not rest until the threat they present to the communities in our district is eliminated.”

He was federally arrested in July 2017.

The 2009 shooting involved Catalan and other BLS members, who armed themselves with guns and drove around looking for rival gang members to shoot down with the aim of boosting their reputation in the MS-13 gang. They spotted a group of people that they believed to be part of the Bloods street gang and opened fire on them. One of them was hit and later survived after undergoing surgery.

The 2015 shooting was directed at gang members thought to be part of the Latin Kings gang.

“Thanks to the relentless efforts of the FBI’s Long Island Gang Task Force and Eastern District of New York, Catalan will be held accountable for his vicious crimes that nearly claimed three lives,” Acting SCPD Commissioner Stuart Cameron said.

“The SCPD will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to put an end to gangs in our communities and their senseless violence while continuing to seek justice for MS-13 victims.”