Pam Bondi Drops Charges Against ‘Worst of the Worst’ Gang Leader
The attorney general nevertheless maintains that he’s “one of the top domestic terrorists.”
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
The Justice Department moved to drop its case against a Salvadoran man Attorney General Pam Bondi accused of being a senior leader of the MS-13 gang.
The request Wednesday came less than two weeks after Bondi described the 24-year-old, Henrry Villatoro Santos, as “one of the top domestic terrorists” in the organization. She also used a Fox News interview to call him “one of the worst of the worst” and said viewers could expect “a lot more charges on him.”
FBI Director Kash Patel similarly referred to Villatoro Santos as a “top leader” of MS-13, while President Donald Trump celebrated the capture of a “major leader” in a Truth Social post.
In a court filing, DOJ prosecutors did not explain why they are now seeking to dismiss a federal charge of unlawfully possessing a firearm, writing only that “the government no longer wishes to pursue the instant prosecution at this time.”
Sources familiar with the matter told the Washington Post that the case had been dropped in order to fast-track his deportation from the U.S. In a statement, Bondi told the Post: “As a terrorist, he will now face the removal process.”
Late Wednesday, Villatoro Santos’ attorney asked the court to hold off on granting the DOJ’s request to drop charges against his client. Recognizing that his move was “unusual,” defense attorney Muhammad Elsayed wrote that dismissing the case would likely lead to Villatoro Santos being deported without being offered the chance to challenge the basis for his removal.
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“The danger of Mr. Villatoro Santos being unlawfully deported by ICE without due process and removed to El Salvador, where he would almost certainly be immediately detained at one of the worst prisons in the world without any right to contest his removal, is substantial, both in light of the government’s recent actions and the very public pronouncements in this particular case,” Elsayed wrote.
Henrry Villatoro Santos was accused of being an MS-13 leader by Pam Bondi.
Alexandria, Virginia Sheriff's Office
The lawyer highlighted Trump’s order to deport “certain immigrants to El Salvador without any due process” under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a little-used law giving the president the power to remove people in times of war.
It’s not clear if prosecutors will invoke that statute or use some other basis to try and remove Villatoro Santos. The Daily Beast has contacted the DOJ for comment.
The Trump administration last month deported hundreds of alleged Venezuelan gang members to a prison in El Salvador, sparking legal challenges questioning the president’s invocation of a wartime power to do so.
The Supreme Court on Monday overturned a lower court’s order to block the deportations, but the 5-4 decision—in which conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett sided with the court’s three liberals—nevertheless said migrants detained in the U.S. must be given the chance to challenge their deportation before they’re removed.
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