MS-13 Gang Associate Sentenced to 50 Years in Prison for the Murders of Four Young Men in a Central Islip Park

Press Release

Leniz Escobar, a.k.a. "Diablita," Lured Five Young Men to Park, Four of Whom Were Killed By MS-13 Gang Members, and Then Destroyed Evidence

Earlier today, at the federal courthouse in Central Islip, Leniz Escobar, also known as "Diablita," an associate of the Leeward Locos Salvatruchas (Leeward) and Brentwood Locos Salvatruchas (Brentwood) cliques of La Mara Salvatrucha, also known as the MS-13, a violent transnational criminal organization, was sentenced by United States Second Circuit Judge Joseph F. Bianco, sitting by designation, to 600 months' imprisonment. On April 8, 2022, Escobar was convicted after a four-week trial of racketeering, including predicate acts of murder, conspiracy to murder rival gang members, and obstruction of justice, and murder in aid-of racketeering. Those charges stemmed from her participation in the April 11, 2017 murders of Justin Llivicura, Michael Lopez, Jorge Tigre and Jefferson Villalobos, who were hacked to death with machetes and other sharp objects after Escobar lured them to a local Central Islip park.

Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, James E. Dennehy, Assistant Director in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), and Robert E. Waring, Acting Commissioner, Suffolk County Police Department (SCPD), announced the sentence.

"The defendant demonstrated her allegiance to the MS-13 gang by luring four young men to their slaughter," stated United States Attorney Peace. "Today's significant sentence reflects not only the seriousness of her conduct but also the consequences of her actions including the terror and suffering experienced by the victims, and the life-altering grief that their families continue to suffer. It is my hope that the justice meted out today will provide some comfort to those who lost loved ones to this senseless gang violence."

"In April 2017, Leniz Escobar ensnared four young men in a lethal ambush where fellow MS-13 associates ruthlessly murdered them due to assumed allegiance with a rival gang. Her subsequent bragging of her inhumane trap to ranked members exemplifies Escobar's perverted prioritization of gang status over human life. May today's sentencing provide some justice to the victims' families, and serve as a promise that the FBI will continue to eradicate the MS-13 presence terrorizing our communities," stated FBI Assistant Director in Charge Dennehy.

"The senseless and brutal murder of four young people by members of the transnational gang MS-13, terrorized the Central Islip community and sent shockwaves across the nation," Suffolk County Police Acting Commissioner Robert Waring said. "Leniz Escobar played a significant role in leading four victims to their deaths and will pay the necessary price for her part. We hope that today's sentencing brings some measure of closure to the families who have suffered unimaginable grief. We will continue to pursue those who threaten the safety and well-being of members of our community with relentless determination."

The evidence at trial proved that on the evening of April 11, 2017, Escobar and a co-conspirator, Keyli Gomez, lured five young men, including the four murder victims, to a park in Central Islip where they were attacked by members of the MS-13, including Josue Portillo, Freiry Martinez, Alexis Hernandez, Edwin Rodriguez, Sergio Segovia-Pineda, Omar Antonio Villalta, Henry Salmeron, Anderson Sanchez and others. The MS-13 members believed the victims to be members of a rival gang; at least two of the victims had offended the MS-13 by posting photos on social media in which they wore certain items and flashed hand signs that signified membership in the MS-13 gang. Escobar and Gomez showed the gang-related photos to members of the MS-13, who confirmed the young men did not belong to MS-13, and it was decided that the victims would be killed. Gomez testified at the trial that she and Escobar drove with the victims to the park, led them to a predetermined wooded area and sent the MS-13 members text-messages notifying them of their arrival. The MS-13 members and associates proceeded to the designated location and encircled the victims under the cover of darkness. One of the intended victims immediately fled and was able to escape. Llivicura, Lopez, Tigre and Villalobos were surrounded by MS-13 members, who attacked them with machetes, knives, an axe, and wooden clubs. After the attack, the MS-13 members dragged the victims' bodies to a more secluded spot in the woods, piled them up, and then fled. The victims' bodies were discovered the following evening.

In the days following the murders, Escobar bragged to other MS-13 members about her role in the killings and, in recorded calls with her boyfriend, who was a high-ranking member of the Brentwood clique, discussed the attack in detail. Using barely coded language, and referring to the victims who were killed, she said, "four individuals took the train and who knows when they'll be back, got me?" Escobar then shared how that plan went awry when one person escaped, adding "But one of them, one of them managed to still be here on the map" and "he knows stuff about me." In a separate call, Escobar told her boyfriend that she was "happy for this to happen." Of the four victims, she said they were "never coming back . . . somewhere else . . . seeing the light . . . no more . . . out of here . . . not on the map."

Additionally, Escobar destroyed evidence of her involvement in the murders by disposing of a sweatshirt stained with the blood of a victim, tossing her cellular phone from a moving vehicle when she was being followed by the police and falsely telling detectives that she and Gomez were victims of a random robbery in the park on the night of the murders.

More than a dozen MS-13 members and associates have been charged in connection with the April 11, 2017 murders, including the individuals listed above. Of these defendants, Escobar is the fifth person to be sentenced. Josue Portillo was sentenced to 55 years' incarceration, Freiry Martinez was sentenced to 50 years' incarceration, Anderson Sanchez was sentenced to 32 years' incarceration, Alexis Hernandez was sentenced to 29 years' incarceration, and the remaining defendants are pending sentence.

Today's sentencing is the latest in a series of federal prosecutions by the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York targeting members of the MS-13. The MS-13's leadership traditionally has been based in El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico, but the organization also has thousands of members and an increasing number of leaders in the United States. With numerous branches, or "cliques," the MS-13 is the most violent criminal organization on Long Island. Since 2003, hundreds of MS-13 members, including dozens of clique leaders, have been convicted on federal felony charges in the Eastern District of New York. A majority of those MS-13 members have been convicted on federal racketeering charges for participating in murders, attempted murders and assaults. Since 2010, this Office has obtained indictments charging MS-13 members with carrying out more than 70 murders in the Eastern District of New York, resulting in the convictions of dozens of MS-13 leaders and members in connection with those murders. These prosecutions are the product of investigations led by the FBI's Long Island Gang Task Force, which is comprised of agents and officers of the FBI, SCPD, Nassau County Police Department, Nassau County Sheriff's Department, Suffolk County Probation Office, Suffolk County Sheriff's Office, the New York State Police, the Hempstead Police Department, the Rockville Centre Police Department and the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.

The government's case is being handled by the Criminal Section of the Office's Long Island Division. Assistant United States Attorneys Paul G. Scotti, Justina L. Geraci and Megan E. Farrell are in charge of the prosecution, with the assistance of Automated Litigation Support Specialist Michael Compitello.

The Defendant:

LENIZ ESCOBAR
Age: 24
Islip Terrace, New York

E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 21-CR-101 (JFB)

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Updated October 1, 2024