Boston FBI pins two more murders on MS-13 operatives in long-running racketeering case

Prosecutors in a sweeping federal case against suspected MS-13 members just linked another murder to the brutal charges against the international street gang known for its extreme violence.

In new charges that Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy says demonstrate “a complete disregard for human life and the rule of law,” three men have been accused of participating in various ways in the murders of two other men: Joaquin Aguilar, of Allston, on December 18, 2010, in Chelsea; and Jose Cortez Cornejo on July 13, 2020, near Horseneck Road in Dartmouth.

U.S. District Court Judge William G. Young on Friday unsealed an indictment charging two suspected MS-13 members with murder in connection with a racketeering plot — the third indictment filed in a massive MS-13 case before it was first opened in 2017. On Thursday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Jennifer C. Boal opened a separate indictment against a third suspect on related charges.

Defendants William “Humilde” Pineda Portillo, 31, of Everett; Jose “Cholo” Vasquez, aka “Little Crazy,” 31, of Somerville; and in the other case, Franklin Antonio “Tony” Amaya Paredes, 27, of New Bedford.

MS-13, also known as La Mara Salvatrucha, has deep roots in El Salvador but conducts transnational operations with cabals that expand its reach in the U.S. and other countries such as Honduras and Guatemala, court documents show. Prosecutors say it has a reputation for being particularly violent, using “murder, assault, extortion, kidnapping, obstruction of justice and drug trafficking” to further its nefarious activities.

Pineda Portillo was also charged in the first superseding indictment in this case, which was related to the December 18, 2010, murder of Joaquin Aguilar of Allston in Chelsea. Prosecutors have now linked Vasquez to the murder, saying that while both men and others conspired to kill the 28-year-old, Vasquez was one of the men who actually stabbed him, leaving his handprint on the handle of the silver kitchen knife he left behind. on site.

Vasquez is already serving a 212-month sentence (or 17 years and 8 months) in federal prison for a new racketeering conviction. Pineda Portillo was also charged in that case, but was deported shortly before charges were filed. He was arrested in May 2022 while crossing the Texas border from Mexico, where he reportedly admitted to being a member of MS-13, and returned to Massachusetts, where he remains in federal custody pending trial.

Pineda Portillo and Vasquez – described by prosecution witnesses as the leader of the Trece Loco Salvatrucha (TLS) MS-13 clique in Somerville – were charged in Aguilar’s 2010 murder.

In that case, Chelsea police responded to 6th Street just after December 7, where they found Aguilar still conscious but bleeding from twelve stab wounds to his head and chest. He would be pronounced dead at Massachusetts General Hospital. Police followed his blood trail to the scene of the violence: under the Fifth Street on-ramp to southbound Route 1 in Chelsea.