NEW YORK - The woman convicted of luring five young men into a Long Island park where they were attacked by MS-13 gang members, who killed four of them, was sentenced to 50 years in prison Tuesday.
The brutal 2017 attack shocked Central Islip, and the nation.
Leniz Escobar, 24, also known as "La Diablita, or "Little Devil," was convicted in April 2022 in connection with the murders of Justin Llivicura, Michael Lopez, Jorge Tigre and Jefferson Villalobos. The victims were aged 16-20. She was sentenced Tuesday.
Escobar was accused of luring them into the park to smoke marijuana. Once they got there, gang members surrounded and attacked them with machetes, knives, an axe and clubs.
One managed to run away. The other four were killed.
Prosecutors say they were attacked because MS-13 gangsters believed they were "members of a rival gang, at least two of whom had disrespected the MS-13 by posting photos on social media."
Escobar bragged about the attack, prosecutors say
Prosecutors say that Escobar bragged to other MS-13 members about her role in the killings after the attack.
"The defendant demonstrated her allegiance to the MS-13 gang by luring four young men to their slaughter," U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said. "It is my hope that the justice meted out today will provide some comfort to those who lost loved ones to this senseless gang violence."
"Her subsequent bragging of her inhumane trap to ranked members exemplifies Escobar's perverted prioritization of gang status over human life. May today's sentencing provide some justice to the victims' families," FBI Assistant Director in Charge Dennehy said.
More than a dozen MS-13 gang members and associates have since been charged in connection with the attack. Escobar is the fifth to have been sentenced.
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