The Justice Department seeks to drop its criminal case against a Virginia man accused of being the “East Coast leader” of the MS-13 gang, weeks after Attorney General Pam Bondi announced his arrest in a nationally televised press conference last month.
Bondi referred to Henrry Villatoro Santos as “one of the top members and head of the East Coast” of the violent MS-13 gang during a March 27 news conference in Manassas, Virginia. She also accused Villatoro Santos of being responsible for “very violent crimes, anything you can associate with MS-13. He was the leader over it — all of the violent crimes.”
In a court filing Wednesday in Alexandria, Virginia, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia asked a judge “to dismiss without prejudice the criminal complaint presently pending against the defendant.” When asked why the government was moving to drop the case, a spokesperson for Bondi responded with a clip of Bondi saying on March 27 that Villatoro Santos “won’t be in this country much longer.”
Alexandria Sheriff’s Office 
Two sources familiar with the matter told CBS News the department is likely to seek to deport Villatoro Santos.
“As a terrorist, he will now face the removal process,” Bondi said in a statement following CBS News’ reporting.
Any decision to deport Villatoro-Santos without first securing a criminal conviction on the crimes alleged by Bondi would break historical precedent, according to two former Justice Department officials who spoke with CBS News.
Scott Fredericksen, a former federal prosecutor, told CBS News, “Historically and consistently, if someone truly is a leader of a violent gang, we would always prosecute them first and convict them first — and make sure they can’t get back into the country.”
Charging documents filed against Villatoro Santos last month made only a fleeting reference to his alleged affiliation to MS-13. The charging documents said, “FBI agents and (task force officers) also observed indicia of MS-13 association in the garage bedroom” of Villatoro Santos’ home. He was charged with one count of unlawful possession of a firearm and was ordered detained by a magistrate judge, pending future hearings.
At the March 27 news conference, Virginia Gov. Glenn Younkin also appeared and referred to Villatoro-Santos as “One of the top operatives in MS-13.”
A defense lawyer did not immediately return a request for comment.
