The Justice Department on Wednesday filed a motion to dismiss its case against a Virginia-based Salvadoran national accused of being an MS-13 leader.
Henrry Jose Villatoro Santos’ only charge in federal court is listed as illegal firearms possession after FBI agents entered his residence in Woodbridge, Virginia — southwest of Washington, D.C. — and confiscated a Taurus, model G2C, 9 mm pistol, as well as three additional firearms, ammunition and two suppressors in a bedroom, according to federal court documents.
“As a terrorist, he will now face the removal process,” Attorney General Pam Bondi told Fox News on Wednesday evening.
A Wednesday evening motion to delay the dismissal states that Villatoro Santos’ newly appointed counsel understands “the Government now intends to pursue the deportation of Mr. Villatoro Santos in lieu of prosecution.”
“The above is a fairly straightforward procedural history,” the defense’s motion, filed by attorney Muhammed Sayed, states. “But in the background of this routine legal process, the United States government, at its highest levels, has been publicly and loudly propagating allegations that Mr. Villatoro Santos ‘is one of the top leaders of MS-13’ and ‘one of the leaders for the East Coast, one of the top in the entire country,’ claims made by Attorney General Pam Bondi at a high-level press conference on March 27, 2025.”
Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel described Villatoro Santos as the top MS-13 leader on the East Coast, during a news conference after his arrest, which they were present for, along with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, and Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove.
“He will not be living in our country much longer,” Bondi said at the time.
