Earlier today in Brooklyn, United States District Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall sentenced Yanki Misael Cruz-Mateo, a member of the 18th Street gang, to 45 years in prison. Cruz-Mateo was convicted of racketeering conspiracy related to his role in the murders of Jonathan Figueroa and Oscar Antonio Blanco-Hernandez in 2017 and 2018, respectively.
United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, John J. Durham, alongside Christopher G. Raia, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI's New York Field Office, announced the sentencing. Durham stated, "Cruz-Mateo committed two horrific murders and boasted about the carnage in video and text messages to instill fear, exact retribution, and promote gang violence."
The prosecution of Cruz-Mateo is part of a broader effort to curb violence by the 18th Street gang, described as a "transnational criminal organization and violent street gang." The gang's activities extend across New York, the United States, and Central America.
The murders of Figueroa and Blanco-Hernandez highlight the gang's violent practices. In October 2017, Cruz-Mateo and other gang members brutally murdered Figueroa in a New York state forest, allegedly for being an informant. Blanco-Hernandez was killed in Queens in February 2018, suspected of being affiliated with a rival gang.
Co-defendants in these cases have also faced legal action. Walter Fernando Alfaro Pineda, Israel Mediola Flores, and Jose Douglas Castellano pleaded guilty to Figueroa's murder. Mediola Flores received a 425-month sentence, while sentencing for Pineda and Castellano is pending. In Blanco-Hernandez's murder, Sierra, Chacon, and Cruz pleaded guilty, receiving sentences of 204, 269, and 150 months, respectively.
The investigation and prosecution were part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces initiative, focusing on dismantling major criminal networks involved in drug trafficking and related crimes.
The case was managed by the International Narcotics and Money Laundering Section of the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York. Assistant United States Attorneys Jonathan P. Lax, Erin Reid, Margaret Schierberl, Adam Amir, and Rebecca Urquiola led the prosecution.