José Jonathan Guevara-Castro, also known as “Suspechoso” (Guevara-Castro), an alleged member of the violent transnational criminal organization La Mara Salvatrucha, also known as the “MS-13,” and a fugitive from justice, was extradited Tuesday from El Salvador to the United States.
Guevara-Castro was arrested in Acajutla, Sonsonate, El Salvador on August 13, 2020 and has been detained pending his extradition to the United States, which was formally authorized by the Supreme Court of Justice of El Salvador on July 12, 2022.
Guevara-Castro charged with participating in the murder of 20-year-old Kerin Pineda, who was believed to be a member of the 18th Street gang, one of MS-13’s principal rivals. Pineda’s murder was committed as a joint venture between two different subgroups, or “cliques,” of the MS-13 operating on Long Island: the Hollywood Locos Salvatruchas clique, of which Guevara-Castro is an alleged member; and the Sailors Locos Salvatruchas Westside clique.
On May 21, 2016, MS-13 members, armed with machetes, lured Pineda to a secluded wooded area near the Merrick-Freeport border, where he was surrounded and violently attacked. Pineda’s machete-mutilated corpse was then buried in a hole that had been dug the day before. Pineda’s corpse was recovered one year later.
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