MS-13 gang member pleads guilty in 2016 killing

An admitted MS-13 member accused of participating in the 2016 murder of a man he believed was a member of a rival gang pleaded guilty Thursday to racketeering and conspiracy to distribute cocaine and marijuana in federal court in Central Islip.

Prosecutors said Ever Flores, 29, and other MS-13 co-conspirators, drove around Central Islip and Brentwood on Oct. 13, 2016, hunting for rival gang members to attack and kill.

When Flores and two other MS-13 members spotted Dewann Stacks, whom they believed to be a member of the Bloods, on American Boulevard in Brentwood, they attacked him with machetes and a baseball bat. Prosecutors said the victim was beaten with such force to the face and head that he was nearly unrecognizable.

"Today’s guilty plea makes clear that the defendant, an MS-13 gang member who admittedly hunted on residential streets in Long Island in order to kill, actively participated in the butchering and beating death of the victim until he was almost unrecognizable," acting U.S. Attorney Jacquelyn Kasulis said. "This office and the Long Island Gang Task Force have vowed to end these horrific killings and dismantle the MS-13."

Flores’ attorney, Susan Marcus of Manhattan, did not immediately return a request for comment.

U.S. Circuit Judge Joseph Bianco ordered Flores, also known as "Negro" and "Grone," to return to court for sentencing on May 25.

"This case is a grim reminder of just how vicious MS-13 can be," acting Suffolk Police Commissioner Stuart Cameron said. "This victim was sought out like prey and killed in an act of savagery illustrating the danger this street gang poses. Today, there is one less murderer and drug dealer to plague the streets of Suffolk County."

Flores, of Brentwood, also pleaded guilty to participating in a drug conspiracy, acknowledging that between April 2016 and October 2017, he and other members of MS-13’s Sailors clique in Brentwood conspired to distribute cocaine and marijuana to raise money for the gang.