Five alleged MS-13 members, including a leader of the gang’s Hollywood clique, are facing multiple racketeering charges related to two killings on Long Island, as well as other charges, an indictment unsealed Wednesday in the Eastern District of New York shows.

The indictment unsealed in Central Islip federal court charges alleged MS-13 Hollywood clique leader David Orellana-Aleman, 27, of Hyattsville, Maryland; Omar Zavala-Ventura, 27, of Glen Cove; Cruz Eduardo Sanchez-Gutierrez, 29, of Glen Cove and Central Islip; Noel Portillo-Romero, 27, of Hempstead and Central Islip; and Ernesto Torres-Hernandez, 26, of Port Jefferson and Central Islip, with the killing of Yoneli Ramos-Moreno at Sunken Meadow Bluff in Kings Park in October 2023.

Moreno, a former MS-13 associate who was believed to be disloyal after dealing with the rival gang Latin Kings, was "first lured to a parking lot in Hauppauge and then driven to the Sunken Meadow Bluff where he was strangled with a rope and beaten to death," according to a release issued by the U.S. Department of Justice. The men allegedly left his body in the woods and burned the rope.

Portillo-Romero, Torres-Hernandez and Zavala-Ventura have also been charged with conspiracy to murder Carlos Lopez-Lopez. Lopez-Lopez, a former member of MS-13 who was suspected of cooperating with law enforcement, was stabbed to death and drowned on a Blue Point beach in March 2025, according to authorities.

If convicted, the men face up to life in prison or a chance of the death penalty, federal prosecutors said.

"The legal terms in the Indictment cannot adequately describe the sheer savagery with which the defendants, in service to the MS-13 gang, beat, strangled, and murdered Ramos-Moreno, and plotted to murder Lopez-Lopez," U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Joseph Nocella Jr. said in a statement. "The charges in the indictment demonstrate my Office and our law enforcement partners’ resolve to hold vicious transnational organized crime groups like MS-13 accountable for their crimes and continue the mission to eradicate them from Long Island."

The men, who allegedly belonged to MS-13 cliques, are also charged with conspiring to distribute cocaine and marijuana. Street sales of the drugs help fund MS-13 operations, including for firearms and ammunition, according to officials. Money is also sent to MS-13 leadership in the United States and Central America, where there are thousands of members, according to the officials. 

Portillo-Romero, Sanchez-Gutierrez and Torres-Hernandez were set to be arraigned Wednesday afternoon after being arrested Tuesday. Attorneys for Portillo-Romero and Torres-Hernandez were not able to immediately comment. Zavala-Ventura is currently in federal custody and Orellana-Aleman is currently being held by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to officials. It's unclear who will be representing them in court. 

In a court memo seeking permanent detention orders, assistant U.S. attorneys said the men, all of whom are citizens of El Salvador except Torres-Hernandez, who is a legal permanent resident, pose a risk of fleeing and are a danger to society. The government has "overwhelming" evidence against the men, including testimony of eyewitnesses and cooperating witnesses, according to the memo. 

The arrests are part of an ongoing effort to combat the transnational criminal group, which has numerous cliques on Long Island, according to federal authorities. Federal officials in the Eastern District of New York have charged MS-13 members with carrying out more than 75 killings and convicted dozens of MS-13 leaders and members in connection with those murders since 2010. Many of the gang's members are immigrants from Central America, with associated leaders in this country and also in El Salvador, Honduras and Mexico, according to the release. 

 "The violence carried out by MS-13 reaches barbaric proportions and we will continue to collaborate with our law enforcement partners to put an end to this transnational gang’s reign of terror," Suffolk Police Commissioner Kevin Catalina said in a statement.