As the gang leader found guilty of ordering the hit was given a life sentence by a Brooklyn federal judge on Tuesday, the mother of a 16-year-old boy who was killed by MS-13 members expressed her hope that the vicious killers “rot in jail.”
Melvi Amador-Rios, 32, was emotionless as she sat quietly during his sentencing hearing in Brooklyn, Queens, while Brooklyn Assistant US Attorney Anna Karamigios read impact statements from victims of his Centrales Locos Salvatruchas, an MS-13 clique that ran amok in Jamaica.
As a teenager, Julio Vasquez was stabbed more than thirty times by MS-13 members who were acting on Amador-Rios’ orders in 2017. His mother, Bertha Palaguachi, expressed her hope that the people responsible for her son’s murder would never be seen again.
“I want justice because they killed my son, not an animal. In her statement, Palaguachi said, “I hope they stay in jail and rot.”
On May 16, 2017, Amador-Rios, also known by the nicknames “Letal” and “Pinky,” gave the order to underlings Josue “Colocho” Leiva and Luis “Inquieto” Rivas to set up a trap and lure Vasquez to Alley Pond Park in Queens. Amador-Rios was the “corredor,” or leader, of the local MS-13 arm.
Prosecutors claimed that the teenager was stabbed 34 times there, almost decapitating his body.
Later, a local birdwatcher found Vasquez’s remains and testified during the trial that the body was “covered with maggots.”
Following the trial, Amador-Rios was found guilty of planning the 2016 shooting of 16-year-old Luis Serrano, who avoided the attempted hit but suffered paralysis as a result.
Seated silently in the rear of the courtroom in a motorized wheelchair, Serrano wrote of the struggles he had endured since he was singled out by Amador-Rios’s group, who thought he was a member of the rival Queens gang 18th Street “because of the five minutes I spent with those three guys.”
“The doctor informed me that I wouldn’t be able to move when I woke up in the hospital. In his statement, Serrano said, “I started crying.”
Serrano, who testified during the trial about the horrific attack, expressed his wish that he could still run up the stairs at school or play soccer, but in reality, he is confined to a wheelchair and needs to be carried on the beach.
Wendy Bolanoes, another victim of Amador-Rios’ terror reign, wrote about how she gets PTSD every time customers enter her store wearing masks and hoodies because Amador-Rios was more concerned with stealing “five dollars instead of getting a real job.” Bolanoes was robbed at gunpoint by MS-13 members acting at the leader’s discretion.
Amador-Rios allegedly “manipulated” impressionable youths into joining the gang in order to commit senseless “carnage” on Jamaican streets, according to the prosecution.
Karamigios stated in Brooklyn federal court, “He used his position of power to convince children who idolized him to join the gang.”
She continued, saying that victims still “live in fear” of the gang’s retaliation.
On August 8, a jury returned a guilty verdict on 17 of the 18 charges against Amador-Rios, including attempted murder and murder committed with the intent to commit racketeering.
It happened following a two-week trial during which the jury heard testimony from multiple MS-13 informants regarding the lawless rule of the CLS leader, including his own brother, who turned on him while testifying.
The MS-13 informant gave a Brooklyn federal jury a detailed account of an attempted hit on a 16-year-old boy on Tuesday. He described how the gang’s purported leader gave the order to carry out the kill and then elevated him following the botched shooting that left the victim paralyzed.
Jose Gonzalez, 24, stated in court that he was informed by his former MS-13 boss, Melvi Amador-Rios, who is on trial for charges including murder conspiracy and racketeering, that he needed to kill someone in order to advance in the Centrales Loco Salvatruchas clique.
Gonzalez described the conversation to the jurors, stating that it happened soon after he turned 18 and that he was a low-level crew member known as a “chequeo.” “[He] pulled me over to the side and told me it’s my turn,” Gonzalez said.
“To go do a killing” was Amador-Rios’ response when Gonzalez claimed he asked him what he meant.
Gonzalez testified that Amador-Rios stated “it had to be” a member of the rival 18th Street Gang, even though he didn’t care who was killed.
“You know, I really love him, but faith brought us together.” Santos Amador-Rios, the brother, testified, “It’s not like I want to do what I am doing right now, but I cannot rot in jail.” “I know I love him, and he knows that, but there’s nothing I can do.”
Wearing a new tan prison jumpsuit and a fuller beard, Amador-Rios chose not to speak during his sentencing. Instead, he only smiled a little and waved to family members as he was escorted out of the courtroom after Judge Rachel P. Kovner handed down the life sentence.
US Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement, “The defendant will deservedly serve a life sentence for the murder, attempted murder, and armed robberies he committed on behalf of MS-13.”
“The defendant’s crimes were heinous and senseless, and the terror he inflicted on his victims, their families, and the community is reflected in the sentence he received today.”
