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Edwin Rodriguez, not pictured, entered his plea to federal charges in the murders of Jorge Tigre, top left, Jefferson Villalobos, bottom left, Michael Lopez, bottom center, and Justin Llivicura, far right. (Victim’s photos and crime scene screenshots via CBS New York/YouTube)
A member of the MS-13 gang who fled the U.S. after a quadruple murder of four men lured to a park in New York under the guise of smoking pot pleaded guilty this week to racketeering charges in the scheme that stemmed from gang disrespect on social media.
Edwin Rodriguez, 24, also known as “Manicomio,” entered his plea to the federal charges in the murders of Justin Llivicura, Michael Lopez, Jorge Tigre, and Jefferson Villalobos. Rodriguez faces up to life in prison. His sentencing was set for Sept. 18.
“He is relieved to put this behind him in terms of the plea, and he’s ready now to move on to the next phase of the proceeding and the next phase of his life,” Rodriguez’s defense attorney, Glenn Obedin, said, Newsday reported.
The bloodshed happened on April 11, 2017, when five men were lured to a park by MS-13 associates under the guise of smoking marijuana, authorities said. Once there, Rodriquez and a dozen other MS-13 gang members, all armed with machetes, knives, an axe, and wooden clubs, surrounded and attacked the victims. One escaped.
The hacked, stabbed and bludgeoned bodies of the four victims were found the following evening. Rodriguez was arrested in El Salvador and extradited to the United States in 2022.
The summer after the quadruple murder, then-President Donald Trump paid a visit to Long Island and made remarks about the gang.
“Since January ’16 — think of this — MS-13 gang members have brutally murdered 17 beautiful, young lives in this area on Long Island alone,” he said. “They butcher those little girls. They kidnap, they extort, they rape and they rob. They prey on children. They shouldn’t be here. They stomp on their victims. They beat them with clubs. They slash them with machetes, and they stab them with knives. They have transformed peaceful parks and beautiful, quiet neighborhoods into bloodstained killing fields. They’re animals.”
Rodriguez — 17 at the time of the murders, was initially charged as a juvenile on March 16, 2018. He was arrested in El Salvador in 2019 and was returned to the U.S. in 2022. Rodriguez agreed to be transferred to adult status as part of his guilty plea.
Authorities described MS-13 as the most violent criminal organization on Long Island. Since 2003, hundreds of MS-13 members have been convicted on federal felony charges in the Eastern District of New York, authorities said in a news release.
