A 27-year-old Honduran national named Bayron Wuifredo Santos-Recarte, who lived illegally in the United States and belonged to the MS-13 gang, received a 147-month federal prison sentence today. His guilty plea to kidnapping charges and retaliation against a federal witness, as well as unlawful firearm possession by an illegal alien and conspiracy charges from December 2024, led to this sentence.
Court documents and statements from the trial describe how Santos-Recarte and his MS-13 gang members kidnapped a former federal witness using firearms at a Nashville laundromat parking lot on November 5, 2023.
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During a previous federal racketeering trial held eight months earlier, the victim testified against La Mara Salvatrucha 13 members while describing two assassination attempts the gang had made against him because of a drug conflict.
The victim endured hours of captivity inside a truck where he faced savage attacks using a gun, hammer, and machete.
Santos-Recarte, together with his associates, questioned the witness about his testimony against MS-13 while making death threats. After escaping from captivity, the victim found help and received medical care for serious injuries, including broken bones and internal bleeding, along with kidney damage, at a nearby hospital.
“The defendant, an MS-13 member, kidnapped a former federal witness and tortured him with a machete, hammer, and gun. This violence and obstruction of the American legal system is core MS-13 conduct and exemplifies why MS-13 has been designated a foreign terrorist organization,” Matthew R. Galeotti, Head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The Department remains focused on eliminating this organization. There is more to come. Thank you to the prosecutors, ATF, and our local law enforcement partners for their relentless pursuit of justice.”
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“We will do whatever it takes to protect witnesses from harm,” Acting U.S. Attorney Robert E. McGuire for the Middle District of Tennessee said. “If a witness is retaliated against, our office will bring the full might of federal law enforcement to bear on holding those responsible accountable for their crimes.”
During questioning by law enforcement, Santos-Recarte confessed to operating the truck used in the kidnapping and acknowledged that he knew the victim had testified against MS-13. He admitted to participating in the abduction of the witness by gunpoint while entering the vehicle and staying present during the attack. Federal agents seized an assault rifle from Santos-Recarte during his arrest.
Once Santos-Recarte has served his prison term, he will be deported from United States soil. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Explosives, and Firearms investigated this case with support from the Metro Nashville Police Department.
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