Thursday, October 1, 2026
On July 7, Kevin Cuevas Del Cid, a member of the Sailors Locos Salvatruchas Westside clique of La Mara Salvatrucha, commonly known as transnational criminal organization and gang MS-13, was sentenced to 42 years in prison for his role in two different murders in Freeport that occurred in 2016. His sentencing was also connected to conspiracy to distribute cocaine and marijuana charges.
Del Cid, 26, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Joan M. Azrack in federal court in Central Islip. He had previously pleaded guilty to the murders of Kerin Pineda on May 21, 2016, and Javier Castillo on Oct. 10, 2016. The sentencing was initially announced on Tuesday by Joseph Nocella Jr., U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
"Today, the defendant faces justice for his role in the brutal murder of two innocent victims, young men who targeted and tortured by the MS-13 street gang," Nocella stated. "This defendant used social media to lure Kerin Pindea to his death, and this callous disregard for human life has now been met with a just punishment thanks to the work of our office.
Nassau County Police Department Commissioner Patrick J. Ryder spoke on the importance of rooting out gang activity and violence on Nassau County.
"Gang activity will never be tolerated here in Nassau County," Ryder said in a statement released by the U.S. Attorney's Office. "Our department worked aggressively to investigate these cases with our partners in the FBI and U.S. attorney's office. Today's sentencing demonstrates our commitment to holding the defendant accountable for these murders."
According to court filings and statements by Del Cid at the guilty plea proceeding, he participated in the murder of Pineda, 20, because of his suspected membership in the 18th Street gang. In May 2016, Del Cid and other MS-13 members devised a plan where he would create a fake Facebook profile of a young woman to communicate with Pineda and lure him out to be killed.
On May 21, 2016, Pineda went to a seculed wooded area near the Merrick-Freeport border believing that he was meeting the young female he had been communicating with on Facebook, who was, in fact, Del Cid. Pineda was then surrounded and violently attacked by Del Cid and his fellow gang members, who took turns hacking and slashing Pineda with machetes. Pineda's body was then buried in a hole that had been dug in the ground the day before specifically for the murder. Del Cid is the first of six participants in the Pineda murder, all of whom have pleaded guilty to be sentenced for that crime.
Castillo, 15, was also killed by Del Cid because of his suspected membership in the 18th Street gang. On October 10, 2016, members of Del Cid's MS-13 clique in Brentwood convinced Castillo, who lived in Central Islip, to go with them 30 miles away to Freeport and smoke marijuana with them. Castillo was brought to an isolated marsh area along the water in Cow Meadow Park in Freeport, where they attacked and killed him, again taking turns hacking at him with a machete. Castillo's body was left in a hole dug by the MS-13 members, and was not recovered until October 2017. At least six other individuals in addition to Del Cid have been connected to that murder and have pleaded guilty.
Del Cid, who was 16 years-old at the time of both murders, was initially charged by a juvenile information filed under seal on May 20, 2020. The government subsequently filed a motion to transfer Del Cid to adult status for prosecution, and an evidentiary hearing was held on June 3, 2022. That motion was granted by U.S. Circuit Judge Jospeh F. Bianco three days later.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office of the Eastern District of New York, MS-13 is the most violent criminal organization on Long Island, with hundreds of its members being convicted of federal felony charges since 2003. A Majority of those charges have been related to federal racketeering, participation in murders, attempted murders and assaults.
Since 2010, the U.S. Attorney's Office has obtained indictments on more than 75 murders in the Eastern District of New York, with these prosecutions coming as a result of investigations by the FBI's Long Island Gang Task Force. This case is a part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative launched by the U.S. Department of Justice that aims to eradicate transnational criminal organizations like MS-13.
