Hauppauge, NY - April 10, 2018 - Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy D. Sini today announced the trial conviction of an MS-13 gang member who used the threat of violence to attempt to recruit new members for the gang.
“The victims did not join; they did the right thing,” District Attorney Sini said. “That’s why it’s critical that the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office is here to protect the victims of not only gang violence, but also of gang intimidation.”
Juan Lopez, 32, of Huntington Station, was convicted by a jury of Attempted Coercion in the First Degree, an E felony.
MS-13 gang member Juan Lopez of Huntington Station, 32, was convicted by a jury of Attempted Coercion. Photo Credit: SCPD
On April 16, 2017, at approximately 1 p.m., Lopez and several other MS-13 gang members approached two young men at Manor Field Park in Huntington Station in an attempt to recruit them to join MS-13. The incident occurred five days after the murder of four young men near a park in Central Islip by alleged MS-13 gang members.
“When the boys resisted, this defendant stated to them in unequivocal terms, ‘this is how you end up dead in the park,’” District Attorney Sini said. “My message to Mr. Lopez is: That’s how you end up in jail in Suffolk County.”
Lopez was arrested by the Suffolk County Police Department on April 17, 2017.
The case was prosecuted by the Enhanced Prosecution Bureau’s Gang Unit. The Gang Unit was launched in January 2018 by District Attorney Sini to focus exclusively on investigating and prosecuting crimes committed by gang members, such as members of MS-13.
“We are going to bring the fight against MS-13 to a whole new level, and that includes utilizing our penal law in innovative ways,” District Attorney Sini said. “That includes putting an enormous amount of pressure on known MS-13 gang members.”
Lopez faces a maximum sentence of one and one-third to four years of incarceration. He will be sentenced by State Supreme Court Justice Fernando Camacho at a later date.