The MS-13 gang leader who ordered a hit on a 16-year-old in Alley Pond Park in Bayside was sentenced to life in prison on Nov. 28.
Photo by Mark Hallum
An MS-13 gang leader from Queens was sentenced to life in prison Tuesday, Nov. 28, in Brooklyn federal court for racketeering charges, including the murder of a 16-year-old victim in Bayside’s Alley Pond Park in 2017.
Melvi Amador-Rios, 32, of Briarwood, was convicted on 17 of 18 counts by a federal jury in August following a three-week trial and sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Rachel Kovner to life in prison for murder in-aid-of racketeering. Amador-Rios was also sentenced to 80 years in prison for four Hobbs Act robberies, 40 years in prison for ordering a non-fatal shooting and 38 years in prison for firearms charges, to run consecutive to the sentences on all other counts.
“The defendant will deservedly serve a life sentence for the murder, attempted murder and armed robberies he committed on behalf of MS-13,” U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said. “Today’s sentence reflects justice for the heinous and senseless nature of the defendant’s crimes and the terror he inflicted on his victims, their families and the community.”
As proven at trial, beginning in the fall of 2016, Amador-Rios was the leader of the Centrales Locos Salvatruchas (CLS) clique of MS-13, when he ordered two fellow CLS members to kill gang member Julio “Bad Boy” Vasquez on May 16, 2017, after the teenager failed to kill his friend, thus falling out of favor with MS-13. Amador-Rios, known on the streets as “Letal” and “Pinky,” suspected he was cooperating with law enforcement.
On May 16, 2017, Vasquez was lured to a wooded area of Alley Pond Park where co-conspirators Josue Leiva and Luis Rivas stabbed him more than 30 times, nearly decapitating him before leaving him to die. Vasquez’s body was discovered by a bird watcher who smelled and saw his decomposing body on May 21, 2017. Leiva and Rivas pleaded…
Read the full article here
