BOSTON — Two members of the violent street gang MS-13 were sentenced this week for their roles in the 2010 murder of a 28-year-old man in Chelsea, federal officials announced Wednesday.
Jose Vasquez, 31, also known as “Cholo” and “Little Crazy,” was sentenced on Monday to 25 years in prison and five years of supervised release after pleading guilty to a violent crime in aid of racketeering. He is already serving a nearly 18-year sentence for a 2018 federal racketeering conviction and will now serve a total of 37 years.
William Pineda Portillo, 31, also known as “Humilde,” was sentenced to 16 years in prison and three years of supervised release. A Salvadoran national living illegally in Everett, he is subject to deportation after his sentence.
The victim, whose name was not released, was found on December 18, 2010, near the Fifth Street on-ramp to Route 1 in Chelsea with approximately 10 stab wounds and head injuries. He later died at a hospital.
Authorities said Vasquez, Pineda Portillo, and other MS-13 members believed the victim belonged to a rival gang. On the day of the murder, Pineda Portillo picked up the group and the victim in Allston. They traveled to a secluded area under a highway on-ramp in Chelsea where the victim was assaulted and stabbed multiple times. A kitchen knife bearing Vasquez’s palm print and the victim’s blood was recovered at the scene.
A later undercover recording captured an MS-13 member discussing the murder and being disciplined for fleeing the state afterward. The investigation was revived after a reexamination of evidence linked Vasquez and others to the crime.
Pineda Portillo fled to El Salvador before he could be questioned. After returning to the U.S. in 2015, he sold a loaded firearm to a cooperating witness and conspired to murder another MS-13 member he mistakenly believed was a police informant. In a recorded conversation, he said, “I want that son of a bitch killed, man … You will see, homeboy!”
Indicted in 2017, Pineda Portillo was deported to El Salvador shortly before charges were filed. He was arrested again on May 10, 2022, while attempting to illegally cross into Texas from Mexico and was later transferred to Massachusetts.
The sentences were announced by Homeland Security Investigations New England, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the FBI, Massachusetts State Police, and police in Somerville and Chelsea.
