AG Todd Blanche Authorizes Death Penalty Against MS-13 Gang Members Accused of Killing FBI Informant

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is authorizing the death penalty to be used against two MS-13 gang members who are accused of murdering a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) informant.

The post AG Todd Blanche Authorizes Death Penalty Against MS-13 Gang Members Accused of Killing FBI Informant appeared first on Breitbart.

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Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is authorizing the death penalty to be used against two MS-13 gang members who are accused of murdering a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) informant.

Last year, MS-13 gang members Dennis Anaya Urias, Grevil Zelaya Santiago, and Roberto Carlos Aguilar were charged in federal indictments of having murdered 47-year-old Herlyn Barrientos, an MS-13 gang member turned FBI informant, at the behest of the gang’s local clique leadership.

Aguilar is an illegal alien from El Salvador. At the time of the murder, Santiago had a pending visa application, while Urias held a green card.

This week, Blanche wrote a signed memo to United States Attorney Bilal Essayli authorizing and directing him to seek the death penalty against the three MS-13 gang members.

“You are authorized and directed to seek the death penalty against Roberto Carlos Aguilar, Dennis Anaya Urias, and Grevil Zelaya Santiago,” Blanche’s memo states:

As described in Justice Manual § 9-10.160, you may not enter into a plea agreement that requires withdrawal of the notice of intention to seek the death penalty without the prior approval of the Attorney General. [Emphasis added]

Federal prosecutors allege that on Feb. 18, 2025, Urias and Santiago shot Barrientos while he was shopping at a Los Angeles grocery. Barrientos had been the target of a “green light” order from top MS-13 leaders after it became widely known that he was an informant for the FBI.

The two MS-13 gang members knew Barrientos was at the grocery, prosecutors allege, because Aguilar had just, by chance, run into the informant and thus set the events in motion.

At the time of the murder, Barrientos was on the phone with an FBI agent.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com.