Two individuals, including one who is undocumented, have been sentenced to five years in prison after reaching a plea deal with a progressive prosecutor in Virginia.
Maldin Anibal Guzman and Wis Alonso Sorto-Portillo admitted to their involvement in the 2024 mob killing of Nicacio Hernandez Gonzalez. Gonzalez was discovered deceased in Fairfax County, bearing signs of trauma, according to police reports.
Both men accepted charges of second-degree murder by mob, receiving 25-year sentences, of which 20 years were suspended, leaving them with five years to serve. This arrangement was confirmed by sources from Fox News, and a judge has approved the plea deal.
The plea was negotiated by Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney, Steve Descano, who cited a lack of significant physical evidence as a factor in reducing the potential for longer sentences.
Photographs of Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano are shown alongside mugshots of Guzman and Sorto-Portillo, who confessed to second-degree murder by mob in the 2024 incident in Oakton. (Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post via Getty Images; Fairfax County Police Department)
Descano’s office justified the plea agreement, stating to Fox News that it was “the only way to ensure that the defendants were incarcerated.”
“There was no DNA or any physical evidence at the scene. All witnesses in this case were terrified to come forward or assist with prosecution,” the office said.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed that Guzman is an unlawfully present Honduran national who entered the U.S. illegally in 2018 and was ordered removed by an immigration judge in 2019.
ICE said it lodged multiple detainers against Guzman between 2022 and 2023, but the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center declined to honor them and released him from custody.
The agency also said Guzman has prior convictions, including burglary and assault, before his arrest in the 2024 killing.
ICE said it has no record of interaction with Sorto-Portillo.
Hernandez Gonzalez was found dead in a wooded area in the 9500 block of Route 29 in Oakton just after 3 p.m. on July 20, 2024, according to Fairfax County police.
Detectives arrested Guzman, 27, and Sorto-Portillo, 45, both listed as having no fixed address, and initially charged them with malicious wounding by mob. A third suspect, Wilmer Adli Guzman, 20, was later arrested in Washington, D.C., police said.
Fairfax County Police Department headquarters in Virginia. (Google Maps)
Descano’s office has pursued a reform agenda since he took office in 2020, including ending requests for cash bail and implementing sentencing policies aimed at reducing incarceration, according to his office’s website.
The case comes as Fairfax County has seen multiple homicide cases involving illegal immigrants this year, according to reporting cited by federal officials.
The Department of Homeland Security highlighted the trend on social media, calling on Virginia leaders to change policies they say allow illegal immigrants accused of violent crimes to remain in communities.
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger was criticized by DHS. (Al Drago/Getty Images)
The county’s illegal immigrant crime problem has not abated: of four murders this year, three were allegedly committed by illegal immigrants, according to DHS.
“Governor Spanberger must end her sanctuary policies that allow these illegal aliens onto our streets,” the agency wrote.
She has not responded to multiple requests for comment from Fox News.
