El Salvador gives 1,335-year sentence to MS-13 member
El Salvador’s attorney general’s office announced that 248 members of the MS-13 gang have received "exemplary" prison terms for 42 homicides, 42 disappearances and other crimes committed between 2014 and 2022, including a 1,335-year sentence for Marvin Abel Hernandez Palacios and 10 others sentenced to 463–958 years. The mass sentencing is part of President Nayib Bukele’s state-of-emergency gang crackdown that has led to more than 90,000 detentions, which the government credits with historic drops in homicides even as human rights groups allege widespread abuses; MS-13, a gang born in Los Angeles and now designated a terrorist organization by the U.S., is blamed by Salvadoran authorities for helping drive migration north.
📌 Key Facts
- El Salvador’s attorney general said 248 MS-13 members were sentenced for 42 homicides and 42 disappearances plus other crimes.
- One defendant, Marvin Abel Hernandez Palacios, received a 1,335-year sentence, while 10 others received between 463 and 958 years.
- The sentences stem from crimes committed between 2014 and 2022 and fall under a state-of-emergency crackdown launched in March 2022 that has detained more than 90,000 people, of whom about 8,000 have been released as not guilty.
- The Salvadoran government says MS-13 and rival gang Barrio 18 have caused about 200,000 deaths over three decades and once controlled up to 80% of the country.
- MS-13 originated in Los Angeles in the 1980s and was designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. earlier this year, with its violence cited as a driver of migration toward the United States.
📊 Relevant Data
El Salvador's homicide rate was 103 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2015, dropping to 2.4 per 100,000 in 2023 following the gang crackdown initiated in 2022.
Rethinking El Salvador's Homicide Problem — Sage Journals
Under the state of emergency since March 2022, over 90,000 people have been detained in El Salvador, with reports of human rights abuses including arbitrary arrests, torture, and at least 240 deaths in custody as of 2024.
World Report 2024: El Salvador — Human Rights Watch
The United States provided over $1 billion in military assistance to the Salvadoran government during the civil war from 1980 to 1990, contributing to repression that displaced over a million Salvadorans, many of whom immigrated to the US.
The U.S. Helped Destroy El Salvador—Now It's Supporting Its Authoritarianism — AULA Blog
MS-13 gang members are predominantly Salvadoran nationals or first-generation Salvadoran-Americans, formed by immigrants fleeing the civil war in the 1980s.
MS-13 — Wikipedia
US deportations of criminals, including gang members, increased from 1996 onward, contributing to the growth of MS-13 in El Salvador and subsequent violence that drives migration back to the US.
The impact of US deportation policy on gang activity in El Salvador — VoxDev
Gang violence in El Salvador, including by MS-13, has driven significant migration, with children reducing schooling in gang-prone areas and boys being more adversely affected than girls due to increased violence post-deportations.
The impact of U.S. deportation of criminals on gang development and education in El Salvador — ScienceDirect