DOJ moves to deport alleged MS-13 leader instead of prosecute

Published April 10, 2025 10:36am ET



Department of Justice attorneys told a judge in Virginia on Wednesday evening that they wanted to drop a case they brought against the alleged East Coast leader of a violent transnational gang, rather than move forward with prosecuting him.

The move came after top DOJ officials held a large press conference last month alongside Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) to draw attention to Henrry Villatoro Santos’s arrest in a Northern Virginia suburb. They alleged at the time that Santos, a Salvadoran national, was one of the top three leaders in the country of the MS-13 gang.

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