'I've been waiting 8 years for this moment,' says mother of slain MS-13 victim, as judge sentences gang leader Alexi Saenz to 68 years in prison for role in 8 murders

The leader of a Long Island MS-13 clique was sentenced Wednesday to 68 years in prison for his role in eight murders, including the 2016 killings of Brentwood high school students Nisa Mickens and Kayla Cuevas — a crime that received national attention.

Alexi Saenz, 30, who led the gang's Brentwood and Central Islip-based Sailors Locos Salvatruchas Westside clique during an especially violent resurgence of the gang on Long Island, pleaded guilty last year to racketeering charges in connection to the murders.

Elizabeth Alvarado, the mother of Mickens, 15, spoke to the court with her daughter's ashes in a wooden box in front of her. She was one of several victims' parents who told the court of their agony at the absence of their children.

"I've been waiting eight years for this moment," said Alvarado. "I almost took my life to be with her."

Freddy Cuevas, the father of Cuevas, 16, sobbed throughout as he remembered his daughter and Mickens, her best friend since third grade.

U.S. District Judge Gary Brown imposed the 68-year sentence, two years short of the 70 years prosecutors had asked for. Brown said he shaved two years off the sentence as credit for Saenz pleading guilty and convincing his brother, the No. 2 in the gang’s clique, to also do so.

Saenz faced between 40 and 70 years as part of a plea deal. He faced life in prison at trial.

Saenz, who only looked down or straight ahead as the victims’ parents spoke, apologized for his crimes.

"I know that an apology will not repair all the horrible crimes I committed ... but I wanted to say that from the bottom of my heart, these words are sincere," Saenz read from a statement that was translated by a court interpreter. "When I look back, I do not recognize the person who committed these crimes. I am not the same person I was eight years ago but I know I have a lot of work to do."

Natali Todd, Saenz’s lead defense attorney, asked for a sentence of 45 years that would "leave some possibility for hope."

Prosecutor Paul Scotti detailed the circumstances of how each victim became a target of Saenz. Several were just unlucky as Saenz spotted them while in search of a target to kill, in his effort to increase his status in the gang.

"To watch that kind of human suffering and say, ‘I want more’ ... That’s not an intellectual disability," said Scotti. "That’s who he is ... It’s pure evil."

Scotti scoffed at the notion that Saenz had changed, citing his "extensive discipline" record from the Brooklyn jail where he’s been held, including assaults and weapons possession.

Scotti detailed a recent incident where Saenz allegedly "orchestrated a brazen attempt" to bring a box of contraband, including 18 cellphones, marijuana and alcohol, into the jail. While on a cellphone, Saenz allegedly tried to guide the box from the roof of the Metropolitan Detention Center by pulling a rope through a broken window at the jail, Scotti said.

Saenz and his attorneys cited a tough upbringing in his native El Salvador — his father was abusive, his mother abandoned him — and testing has indicated he has an IQ of 72 and has intellectual disabilities.

Prosecutors had initially sought the death penalty for Saenz during President Donald Trump's first term, when the president and his attorney general visited Long Island multiple times in an effort to highlight MS-13 violence. Trump, speaking from the Oval Office in 2020, called Saenz a "bloodthirsty MS-13 leader responsible for the despicable killing of seven Americans, including two teenage girls."

The Justice Department later dropped its move to seek the death penalty for Saenz and his younger brother Jairo Saenz, who pleaded guilty in January to one count of racketeering and one count of discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.

Alexi Saenz, in pleading guilty, also admitted playing a role in the January 2016 murder of Michael Johnson; the April 2016 murder of Oscar Acosta; the September 2016 murder of Marcus Bohannon; the October 2016 murder of Javier Castillo; the October 2016 murder of Dewann Stacks; and the January 2017 murder of Esteban Alvarado-Bonilla. Prosecutors also said he participated in three attempted murders, as well as arson, narcotics trafficking and firearms offenses.

Castillo’s father described going to different Suffolk police precincts, pleading for help to find his son and being turned away.

"The police didn’t take the case, perhaps because we’re Hispanic," he said through an interpreter. He said he’s gotten counseling, but "my heart is still not healed."

Johnson’s father, George Johnson, looked directly at Saenz as he spoke to the court, urging him in a stern tone to "look at me." Saenz did not return his gaze.

Afterward, when asked if he accepted Saenz apology, he replied: "Not a chance."