MS-13 Leader Receives 68-Year Sentence for Long Island Murder Spree

The sentencing, delivered by U.S. District Judge Gary R. Brown, marks one of the harshest penalties in a string of prosecutions targeting the gang’s leadership.

Accused MS-13 gang member Alexi Saenz is escorted by FBI agents in Central Islip, N.Y., after being taken into custody on March 2, 2017. James Carbone/Newsday via AP, File

A federal judge on Wednesday sentenced Alexi Saenz, the leader of a notorious MS-13 clique, to 68 years in prison for orchestrating a wave of violence that left eight people dead in Long Island.

Saenz, 30, also known by the aliases “Blasty” and “Plaky,” led the Sailors Locos Salvatruchas Westside, a chapter of the transnational MS-13 gang operating in Long Island’s Brentwood and Central Islip, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.