Judge denies feds request to seal documents dropping charges in MS-13 cases
A judge on Wednesday denied a request by Long Island federal prosecutors to seal documents related to their request to have charges dropped against two alleged MS-13 gang leaders. Credit: Craig Ruttle
Long Island federal prosecutors' move to drop charges against two alleged high-ranking MS-13 gang leaders, part of a deal between President Donald Trump and the president of El Salvador, "failed" to identify a "compelling interest" to warrant the sealing of documents in one of the cases and made "inconsistent representations," a judge said Wednesday.
U.S. District Judge Joan M. Azrack dismissed prosecutors’ contention that the request to drop the charges should have been sealed due to what they said were "significant operational concerns" and potential "harm to the government’s relationship with a foreign ally," writing the latter was "further undermined by the fact that El Salvador had already publicly requested" MS-13 leaders in the United States be returned.
The rebuke from Azrack on Wednesday came in the form of a sharply worded memorandum and order that unsealed various documents in the case of Vladimir Antonio Arevalo-Chavez, also known as "Vampiro de Monserrat Criminales," who faces charges of racketeering conspiracy, conspiracy to provide or conceal material support to terrorists and narco-terrorism conspiracy.
Federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York, which includes Long Island, moved to drop the charges against Arevalo-Chavez in a request earlier this year to Azrack, which was filed under seal. Azrack later unsealed the request.
"The government filed the motion under seal and asked the Court to dismiss the charges against Arevalo-Chavez (and for him to be sent to El Salvador) before the public would have a chance to see the motion," Azrack wrote Wednesday. "Such a course would prove legally impermissible."
John Marzulli, a spokesman for prosecutors in the Eastern District, declined to comment.
Arevalo-Chavez’s lawyers have argued against the move by prosecutors to deport their client, saying it would deny him "due process of law" and likely result in him being tortured or killed in El Salvador. They could not be reached for comment.
The prosecution’s request is still pending.
The judge also noted another of the government’s arguments for sealing — that the charges pending against Arevalo-Chavez "may not have been made public" in El Salvador, was false. The prosecutors later conceded the defendant had already been tried and sentenced in absentia on two of the charges.
"The public has a right under the First Amendment to know about this motion unless the government has identified an overriding compelling interest that warrants sealing," Azrack wrote. "The government failed to do so here. A desire to avoid public scrutiny of a decision to seek dismissal of criminal charges does not justify sealing. In this case, the government appears to be making inconsistent representations and the public has a right to know about this motion before its resolution."
Another defendant, Cesar Humberto Lopez-Larios, who was alleged to run the gang through its so-called board of directors, called "Ranfla Nacional," was deported to El Salvador in March after federal prosecutors dropped the pending case that charged him with conspiracy to provide and conceal material support to terrorists, conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism transcending national boundaries, conspiracy to finance terrorism and narco-terrorism conspiracy.
The moves by federal prosecutors to drop charges against alleged members of MS-13 leadership, who they alleged had directed members to commit murder and other crimes on Long Island, were highly unusual.
Multiple media outlets reported the president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, wanted the gang members back in El Salvador to cover up a corrupt relationship that would benefit him politically in the form of decreased violence in the Central American country because of cooperation with MS-13.
Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.
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