BOSTON — A 32-year-old man, alleged to be a leader of the MS-13 gang that murdered a 17-year-old Lynn boy in 2018, pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to his involvement in the RICO conspiracy that led to the homicide, the U.S. Attorney’s office said.
Djavier Duggins, aka “Haze,” of Lynn, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to conduct enterprise affairs through a pattern of racketeering activity, more commonly known as a RICO conspiracy.
His sentencing has been scheduled for Dec. 15.
Duggins, who is the sixth and final defendant in this case, faces a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. The other five defendants have already pleaded guilty to the RICO conspiracy and their involvement in the murder, prosecutors said.
In November 2018, Duggins and five other MS-13 members — who were all members of the Sykos Locos Salvatrucha clique of the transnational street gang that operates in Massachusetts and numerous other states, along with El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala — were indicted following an investigation into the body of a teenage boy that was found in a Lynn park on Aug. 2, 2018, prosecutors said.
The injuries to the victim’s body indicated that the teenager had been stabbed dozens of times. Duggins, the alleged leader of the Sykos clique, did not participate in the murder, but his five co-defendants did; Duggins has a history of prior violence and was previously convicted of attempted murder in state court in 2012. Achieving promotion in MS-13 generally requires the commission of a significant act of violence.
MS-13 gang members follow certain core rules and principles, including that members attack and attempt to kill members of rival gangs, and do not act as informants or cooperate with law enforcement.
