MS-13 gang leader gets life in prison

Melvi ‘Lethal’ Amador-Rios ordered the death of two teenagers: USAO

by Naeisha Rose Associate Editor

A gang leader who ordered the murder of two teenagers, resulting in the death of one and the paralysis of the other, was sentenced to life in prison on Tuesday.

Melvi “Letal” Amador-Rios, 32, of Briarwood, also known as “Pinky,” was also found guilty on various racketeering, armed robbery, firearm and Hobbs Act charges after a three-week federal trial by jury on Aug. 9. He will serve consecutive sentences for his crimes ranging from 40 to 80 years, according to the United States Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of New York.

In October 2016, Amador-Rios, the head of the Centrales Locos Salvatruchas clique, a Jamaica branch of MS-13, plotted the death of two 16-year-olds, because he suspected one was the member of the rival 18th Street gang and that a chequeo, or low-level affiliate (known as John Doe 3), in CLS was associating with people from the competing group, prosecutors said.

Julio Vasquez, 16, another CLS chequeo who was believed by Amador-Rios to have also been violating the clique’s rules by supposedly cooperating with law enforcement in a separate case, was selected to kill John Doe 3, but his failure to do so led to his death.

Josue Leiva and Luis Rivas, two CLS members, lured Vasquez to a wooded area of Alley Pond Park and stabbed him more than 30 times on May 16, 2017, according to authorities.

Vasquez’s body was described as looking nearly decapitated and was discovered by a birdwatcher, according to court documents

Leiva and Rivas pleaded guilty to robbery, racketeering and to the teen’s murder on July 14, according to a USAO spokesman.

In 2016, Amador-Rios believed a second 16-year-old of being in the rival 18th Street gang and ordered three chequeos to kill him.

On Oct. 22, 2016, the trio received advice from CLS members Yan Carlos Ramirez and Antonio Salvador on how to kill their target at the latter’s home. On the early morning of Oct. 23, the chequeos went to beat up the teen and one of them shot him in the head with a gun provided by Santos Amador-Rios, the brother of the clique leader. As the 16-year-old lay on the ground, there was an attempt to shoot him a second time, but the gun malfunctioned. The young man is now a paraplegic, according to court filings.

While the three defendants were imprisoned, the gang leader called them and said,

“you guys already have the pass, you know, to be homeboys” indicating they will get to rise up within the CLS’s ranks, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

In February 2019, Ramirez pleaded guilty to assault in aid of racketeering and discharging a firearm in connection with the