Choose dismisses costs towards man accused by legal professional common, FBI director of being MS-13 chief
Senior U.S. District Choose Claude M. Hilton on Wednesday dismissed prison costs towards Henrry Villatoro Santos, a Virginia man accused of being a regional chief of the violent MS-13 gang, clearing the way in which for expedited deportation proceedings.
Earlier this month, the Justice Division requested the court docket to drop the fees, indicating the federal government deliberate to deport Villatoro Santos. A U.S. marshal from the Fugitive Activity Pressure was within the courtroom, suggesting Villatoro Santos may very well be transferred into immigration custody after the listening to.
“They’re more likely to take him in a short time,” Villatoro Santo protection legal professional, Muhammad Elsayed, mentioned after the listening to.
Villatoro Santos’s arrest was introduced final month in a nationally televised information convention that includes Legal professional Basic Pam Bondi, who alleged he was the “East Coast chief” of the MS-13 transnational gang. He was accused of unspecified violent crimes and serving to to steer the gang’s prison assaults throughout the nation. However because the Justice Division has pursued the dismissal of costs towards Villatoro Santos, it has not publicly tied him to any acts of violence. His attorneys have repeatedly questioned the character of the proceedings.
“That is an uncommon case,” Elsayed mentioned in court docket, emphasizing that it was as much as the court docket “to find out whether or not the movement was made in good religion.” He argued that the Justice Division had offered “no clarification in anyway” for withdrawing the fees and questioned the dearth of readability relating to what authorized course of would observe.
“There’ll seemingly be further proceedings,” Elsayed mentioned after the listening to.
Villatoro Santos was dealing with a federal felony gun possession cost in Virginia. Charging paperwork in his prison case made solely a fleeting reference to MS-13. An immigration officer’s affidavit mentioned, “FBI brokers and TFOs additionally noticed indicia of MS-13 affiliation within the storage bed room” of Villatoro-Santo’s house.
Villatoros Santo’s legal professional accused the Justice Division of misusing Rule 48(a) — the procedural instrument used to dismiss the indictment — arguing it amounted to an try to bypass due-process protections. “They wish to deport him with out due course of,” Elsayed mentioned, referencing statements by Bondi and criticizing the dearth of enter from the Division of Homeland Safety.
“The court docket has to dig deeper than simply the fundamental movement,” Elsayed argued, alleging “prosecutorial harassment” and drawing parallels to different politically delicate case dismissals, together with that of New York Metropolis Mayor Eric Adams.
“The DOJ didn’t search to take away this case with out realizing what’s coming subsequent,” Elsayed mentioned, warning of a possible “illegal deportation” and citing previous situations when the administration had “defied court docket orders” in deportation instances.
Authorities attorneys countered that the protection had already delayed the case past its preliminary request, arguing, “The defendant can not proceed to tread water on the prison docket.”
