WASHINGTON – The Department of Justice on Wednesday filed a motion to dismiss its case against Henrry Jose Villatoro Santos, a Salvadoran national living in Virginia who was accused of being an MS-13 leader.
DOJ moves to drop Virginia case against Salvadoran alleged MS-13 gang leader
What we know:
According to federal court documents obtained by FOX News, Villatoro Santos faced only one federal charge of illegal firearms possession. FBI agents executed a search warrant at his Woodbridge residence on March 27 and discovered a Taurus G2C 9mm pistol, three additional firearms, ammunition, and two suppressors in a bedroom, the documents said.
“As a terrorist, he will now face the removal process,” Attorney General Pam Bondi told FOX News on Wednesday evening.
A motion filed Wednesday evening to delay the dismissal of the case against Villatoro Santos states that his newly appointed counsel understands “the Government now intends to pursue the deportation of Mr. Villatoro Santos in lieu of prosecution.”
READ MORE: Charges dropped for man arrested in Virginia, accused of being top MS-13 gang leader
Government pursues deportation
“The above is a fairly straightforward procedural history,” the defense’s motion, filed by attorney Muhammed Sayed, said. “But in the background of this routine legal process, the United States government, at its highest levels, has been publicly and loudly propagating allegations that Mr. Villatoro Santos ‘is one of the top leaders of MS-13’ and ‘one of the leaders for the East Coast, one of the top in the entire country,’ claims made by Attorney General Pam Bondi at a high-level press conference on March 27, 2025.”
During a news conference following his arrest, Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel identified Villatoro Santos as the top MS-13 leader on the East Coast. They were joined at the briefing by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove.
“He will not be living in our country much longer,” Bondi said at the time.
Sayed stated that the government intends to remove his client from the United States under an ICE detainer.
“The danger of Mr. Villatoro Santos being unlawfully deported by ICE without due process and removed to El Salvador, where he would almost certainly be immediately detained at one of the worst prisons in the world without any right to contest his removal, is substantial, both in light of the Government’s recent actions and the very public pronouncements in this case,” he wrote.
READ MORE: Identity of MS-13 top leader arrested in Virginia released
The Source: Information in this article comes from FOX News, the Associated Press, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and previous FOX 5 reporting.