LYNN — Jonathan Tercero Yanes, also known as “Desalmado,” of Lynn, was sentenced to 33 years in prison and five years of supervised release for RICO conspiracy and his participation in the July 2018 murder of a teenage boy in Lynn, the U.S. Attorney’s office said.
Tercero Yanes, 24, was sentenced by U.S. Senior District Court Judge Mark L. Wolf on Tuesday.
In July 2020, Tercero Yanes pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to conduct enterprise affairs through a pattern of racketeering activity, also known as RICO conspiracy, on behalf of the MS-13 gang, the U.S. Attorney’s office said.
As part of his plea, Tercero Yanes, a member of MS-13, also admitted that he participated in the 2018 murder of a teenager, prosecutors said.
MS-13, or La Mara Salvatrucha, is a transnational street gang operating in Massachusetts and many other states, as well as countries including Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.
MS-13 gang members commit acts of extreme violence against suspected rivals, people suspected of cooperating with law enforcement, and people who the gang views as a threat.
In November 2018, Tercero Yanes and five other MS-13 members of the Sykos clique were indicted following an investigation into the murder of a teenage boy, whose body was found in a park in Lynn on Aug. 2, 2018, prosecutors said.
The evidence in this case, including a recording of one of Tercero Yanes’ co-defendants describing the murder in graphic detail, revealed that Tercero Yanes and five other MS-13 gang members murdered the victim based on their mistaken belief that he may have been assisting law enforcement, prosecutors said.
On July 30, 2018, the gang members lured the victim to a playground, where at least four of them were armed with knives. The group pretended to be friendly with the victim and took him to a wooded area of the park. The gang members surrounded the victim and repeatedly stabbed him to death, prosecutors said.
At least four of the six assailants, including Tercero Yanes, stabbed the victim, while two others assisted at the scene. After killing the victim, the gang members left his body in the wooded area of the public park.
An autopsy revealed that the victim suffered at least 32 sharp-force-trauma wounds consistent with being stabbed repeatedly, along with blunt-force injuries to the head.
The investigation also revealed that Tercero Yanes had been stopped by immigration authorities on at least two occasions prior to his participation in the July 2018 murder, including efforts by the Department of Homeland Security to have him detained in immigration custody in November 2017 based on a belief that Tercero Yanes posed a threat to public safety. Tercero Yanes was released on bond from immigration custody in November 2017, prosecutors said.
In a related case, the government charged a juvenile co-conspirator, who was the sixth person involved in the murder, prosecutors said.
All six defendants indicted in this case, along with the juvenile charged in the related case, have pleaded guilty.
Tercero Yanes is the second defendant to be sentenced in the case.
On Feb. 14, Erick Lopez Flores, also known as “Mayimbu,” was sentenced to 40 years in prison.
Henri Salvador Gutierrez, also known as “Perverso,” is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 16, for RICO conspiracy and his participation in the July 2018 murder, as well as his participation in a December 2016 murder in East Boston.
Djavier Duggins, also known as “Haze,” is scheduled to be sentenced for RICO conspiracy on Feb. 17.
Sentencing hearings for the two remaining co-defendants, Eliseo Vaquerano Canas, also known as “Peligroso,” and Marlos Reyes, also known as “Silencio,” have not yet been scheduled by the court.
