DOJ seeks to drop expenses towards man it mentioned was

The Justice Division seeks to drop its prison case towards a Virginia man accused of being the “East Coast chief” of the MS-13 gang, weeks after Lawyer Basic Pam Bondi introduced his arrest in a nationally televised press convention final month.   

Bondi referred to Henrry Villatoro Santos as “one of many prime members and head of the East Coast” of the violent MS-13 gang throughout a March 27 information convention in Manassas, Virginia. She additionally accused Villatoro Santos of being answerable for “very violent crimes, something you may affiliate with MS-13. He was the chief over it — all the violent crimes.”

In a courtroom submitting Wednesday in Alexandria, Virginia, the U.S. lawyer for the Japanese District of Virginia requested a decide “to dismiss with out prejudice the prison criticism presently pending towards the defendant.” When requested why the federal government was transferring to drop the case, a spokesperson for Bondi responded with a clip of Bondi saying on March 27 that Villatoro Santos “will not be on this nation for much longer.”

Two sources conversant in the matter advised CBS Information the division is prone to search to deport Villatoro Santos.

“As a terrorist, he’ll now face the removing course of,” Bondi mentioned in an announcement following CBS Information’ reporting.

Any resolution to deport Villatoro-Santos with out first securing a prison conviction on the crimes alleged by Bondi would break historic precedent, in response to two former Justice Division officers who spoke with CBS Information.

Scott Fredericksen, a former federal prosecutor, advised CBS Information, “Traditionally and persistently, if somebody really is a frontrunner of a violent gang, we might at all times prosecute them first and convict them first — and ensure they can not get again into the nation.”

Later Wednesday, in an uncommon transfer, protection attorneys for Villatoro Santos requested a decide to delay the dismissal of his case, accusing the Justice Division, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and others of making a media circus with “breathless pronouncements” concerning the allegations towards Villatoro Santos.

“The hazard of Mr. Villatoro Santos being unlawfully deported by ICE with out due course of and eliminated to El Salvador, the place he would nearly actually be instantly detained at one of many worst prisons on the planet with none proper to contest his removing, is substantial, each in gentle of the Authorities’s latest actions and the very public pronouncements on this specific case,” his attorneys wrote in Wednesday’s submitting, citing the continued authorized battle regarding alleged Venezuelan gang members who have been despatched to a Salvadoran jail, seemingly with out due course of.

His attorneys mentioned they feared the identical destiny would befall their consumer if the decide agreed to drop the case instantly.

Villatoro Santos additionally famous they have been “keenly conscious of the weird nature of this movement. However these are uncommon occasions.”

Charging paperwork filed towards Villatoro Santos final month made solely a fleeting reference to his alleged affiliation to MS-13. The charging paperwork mentioned, “FBI brokers and (activity power officers) additionally noticed indicia of MS-13 affiliation within the storage bed room” of Villatoro Santos’ residence. He was charged with one depend of illegal possession of a firearm and was ordered detained by a Justice of the Peace decide, pending future hearings.

On the March 27 information convention, Virginia Gov. Glenn Younkin additionally appeared and referred to Villatoro-Santos as “One of many prime operatives in MS-13.”

A protection lawyer didn’t instantly return a request for remark.