Should we classify MS-13 as a terrorist organization?
Attorney General Jeff Sessions says the vicious gang is now the top transnational threat to the U.S.; reaction from Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies.
A member of the violent MS-13 street gang was sentenced Monday to more than 22 years in federal prison for his role in the death of a gang associate suspected of being an informant.
Jose Andrade, 27, also received three years of probation and will be subject to deportation to his native El Salvador upon completion of his sentence, according to federal prosecutors.
Andrade, who went by the nickname "Inocente," pleaded guilty in March to charges of racketeering conspiracy involving murder and conspiracy to distribute marijuana.
Prosecutors claimed Andrade was involved in planning the July 2015 murder in Lawrence of a teenager who was wrongly suspected by gang members of cooperating with law enforcement. Investigators said Andrade planned to take part in the killing himself, but could not do so because he was arrested the previous month.
Authorities say that Andrade is one of 49 defendants who have been convicted as part of a crackdown on MS-13 by federal, state and local officials. Of those defendants, 16 have been found to have "committed or knowingly participated in murders."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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