Leader of MS-13 Clique in New York Linked to 8 Murders Sentenced to 68 Years in Prison

The leader of an MS-13 clique in New York has been sentenced to 68 years in prison on charges stemming from a federal case involving eight murders, including the killings of two Long Island high school girls that drew national attention nearly a decade ago.

Alexi Saenz, 30, was sentenced after pleading guilty last year to ordering six murders and three attempted killings in Brentwood, New York, a community that has grappled with gang violence for years. According to federal court records and reporting by ABC News, Saenz was a central figure in a series of brutal attacks carried out by his MS-13 clique.

Among the victims were Nisa Mickens and Kayla Cuevas, two Brentwood High School students who were beaten to death with a machete and a baseball bat in 2016. Their deaths made national headlines, prompting then-President Donald Trump and other officials to publicly call for Saenz to receive the death penalty.

Prosecutors ultimately dropped their bid for the death penalty but pushed for the harshest possible punishment: a 70-year prison term. Saenz, who has already spent eight years behind bars, received 68.

In court filings ahead of the sentencing, Saenz's attorneys argued that he had been "on a journey of redemption" while incarcerated. They said he suffers from intellectual disabilities and long-term trauma stemming from an abusive childhood in El Salvador. According to the defense, he was recruited into MS-13 as a vulnerable and easily influenced teenager, and manipulated into committing violence by more senior gang members.

Federal prosecutors rejected the claims, stating that Saenz remained active in MS-13 while imprisoned at a federal facility in Brooklyn.

They presented photo evidence showing him posing with other gang members, flashing MS-13 signs, and displaying gang paraphernalia. Disciplinary records also accused Saenz of assaulting other inmates, disobeying staff orders, and possessing sharpened metal shanks, contraband cellphones, and other prohibited items.

"Indeed, the same pattern of violence and mayhem that has marked his life on the street has not waned with the passage of time," prosecutors wrote.

Saenz led a clique known as Sailors Locos Salvatruchas Westside, which operated primarily in Brentwood and nearby Central Islip, about 45 miles east of Manhattan. Prosecutors say he approved the killings of individuals the gang perceived as rivals, or as having disrespected members of the organization. He also pleaded guilty to additional charges including arson, firearms violations, and drug trafficking.

In addition to Mickens and Cuevas, Saenz was charged in connection with the murder of Javier Castillo, a 15-year-old from Central Islip whose body was found in Freeport, New York. He had been hacked to death with a machete. Another victim, 19-year-old Oscar Acosta, disappeared months earlier and was found dead just days after the high-profile killings of the two girls.

Authorities in New York say MS-13 has been associated with at least 25 murders on Long Island since 2016, including those approved by Saenz.

"Alexi Saenz led an unspeakable reign of terror — killing and committing crimes that devastated his community and cost several people their lives," U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella said in a statement. "This sentencing is one of many in our ongoing effort to dismantle MS-13 and other violent criminal organizations."