High-ranking MS-13 gang leader on FBI's Most Wanted list charged on Long Island, prosecutors say

A high-ranking leader of the MS-13 gang who was recently listed on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List was arraigned Wednesday on charges of helping to lead the transnational criminal organization, following his expulsion from Mexico and arrest in California.

Francisco Javier Roman-Bardales, 47, was arraigned in U.S. District Court in Central Islip before Judge Joan M. Azrack and pleaded not guilty to charges including racketeering conspiracy, conspiracy to provide and conceal material support and resources to terrorists, narco-terrorism conspiracy, and alien smuggling conspiracy.

Azrack ordered Roman-Bardales detained pending trial. If convicted, he faces up to life in prison or possibly the death penalty, prosecutors said. The judge asked Roman-Bardales if he wanted the Salvadoran Consulate to be informed of his arrest, but he said no.

Assistant U.S.  Attorney Justina L. Geraci said in court that Roman-Bardales oversaw MS-13’s activities in the western zone of El Salvador, and was also instrumental in the gang’s expansion into Mexico, including its work with Mexican drug cartels.

"The MS-13’s Mexico Program murdered some migrants bound for the United States, including suspected members of the rival 18th Street gang and MS-13 members attempting to flee MS-13 in El Salvador without permission," the release said.

His attorney, John Curran, said his client entered a plea of not guilty but he declined to elaborate outside of court.

MS-13 has a strong presence on Long Island and its members have been convicted of numerous murders, shootings and other violent crimes in the region.

Roman-Bardales, who had been a fugitive for nearly three years, was found by Mexican authorities in Veracruz, Mexico, on Monday. They determined he was a citizen of El Salvador and had no valid status in Mexico, so they expelled him, officials said.

On Tuesday, he was arrested by the FBI at the San Ysidro Port of Entry in San Diego, officials said in the release. He was then brought to Long Island.

"MS-13 is a terrorist organization and this case reflects the Department of Justice’s ironclad commitment to putting terrorists behind bars," U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement.

John J. Durham, U.S.  attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said in the release that Roman-Bardales was "one of the most senior leaders of the MS-13 in the world."

He called Roman-Bardales’ arrest "another momentous step in the dismantling of this evil criminal enterprise, whose bloodshed and reign of terror traverses all boundaries."

Durham said the Suffolk County Police Department assisted in the case, along with Homeland Security Investigations, HSI San Diego, the FBI’s San Diego Field Office and the government of Mexico.