Five MS-13 members indicted on racketeering charges, feds say

Five men prosecutors say are members of MS-13 pleaded not guilty Monday in Central Islip federal court to charges outlined in a racketeering indictment unsealed March 16.

The indictment said Enrique Portillo, 20 of Brentwood, Alexi Saenz, 22, and Jairo Saenz, 20, both of Central Islip, were involved in the 2016 murders of Brentwood High School students Nisa Mickens, 15, and Kayla Cuevas, 16, and the 2017 slaying of Esteban Alvarado-Bonilla, 29, who was gunned down after he entered a Central Islip deli.

Defendants Mario Aguilar-Lopez, 18, of Brentwood, and Jose Suarez, 23 of Central Islip, according to the indictment, was also involved in Alvarado-Bonilla’s murder. The five defendants are scheduled to return to U.S. District Judge Joseph Bianco’s courtroom on June 25.

The indictment says the killings were motivated by the defendants’ desire to maintain and increase their position in the MS-13 gang.

Their attorneys could not be reached.