MS-13 leader pleads guilty in case involving 8 murders, including 2 girls killed on Long Island

A leader of an MS-13 gang clique in New York pleaded guilty Wednesday to racketeering and firearms charges in a case involving eight murders, including the 2016 killings of two high school girls who were hacked and beaten to death as they strolled through their leafy, suburban neighborhood on Long Island.

Alexi Saenz entered the plea in federal court in Central Islip and faces 40 to 70 years in prison. Prosecutors previously withdrew their intent to seek the death penalty in his case.

The 29-year-old will be sentenced on Jan. 31 next year. He was originally indicted in 2017 in the Eastern District of New York.