DOJ asks to dismiss Virginia case against Salvadoran accused MS-13 leader set to be deported

The Justice Department on Wednesday filed a motion to dismiss its case against a Virginia-based Salvadoran national accused of being an MS-13 leader.

Henrry Jose Villatoro Santos’ only charge in federal court is listed as illegal firearms possession after FBI agents entered his residence in Woodbridge, Virginia — southwest of Washington, D.C. — and confiscated a Taurus, model G2C, 9 mm pistol, as well as three additional firearms, ammunition and two suppressors in a bedroom, according to federal court documents.

“As a terrorist, he will now face the removal process,” Attorney General Pam Bondi told Fox News on Wednesday evening.

A Wednesday evening motion to delay the dismissal states that Villatoro Santos’ newly appointed counsel understands “the Government now intends to pursue the deportation of Mr. Villatoro Santos in lieu of prosecution.”

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“The above is a fairly straightforward procedural history,” the defense’s motion, filed by attorney Muhammed Sayed, states. “But in the background of this routine legal process, the United States government, at its highest levels, has been publicly and loudly propagating allegations that Mr. Villatoro Santos ‘is one of the top leaders of MS-13’ and ‘one of the leaders for the East Coast, one of the top in the entire country,’ claims made by Attorney General Pam Bondi at a high-level press conference on March 27, 2025.”

Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel described Villatoro Santos as the top MS-13 leader on the East Coast, during a news conference after his arrest, which they were present for, along with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, and Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove.

“He will not be living in our country much longer,” Bondi said at the time.

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“They executed a clean, safe operation, and the bad guy is in custody. And thanks to the FBI, we got one of the worst of the worst of the MS-13 off the streets this morning. Virginia and the country is a lot safer today,” Bondi told Fox News after the arrest.

Authorities found a 9 mm pistol, three additional firearms, ammunition and two suppressors in Santos’ bedroom, according to court documents.

Sayed says the government plans to remove him from the U.S. based on an ICE detainer.

“The danger of Mr. Villatoro Santos being unlawfully deported by ICE without due process and removed to El Salvador, where he would almost certainly be immediately detained at one of the worst prisons in the world without any right to contest his removal, is substantial, both in light of the Government’s recent actions and the very public pronouncements in this case,” he wrote in the filing.

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The Trump administration sent another Salvadoran man with protected legal status to El Salvador by mistake in March.

Federal officials removed Kilmar Abrego Garci from Maryland when the administration sent three planeloads of Salvadoran and Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador’s “Terrorism Confinement Center” on March 15 for alleged gang affiliations. 

The White House maintains Garci was a known MS-13 member.

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“These examples are now becoming an everyday occurance,” Sayed aid of the Abrego Garci case.

Villatoro Santos’ attorneys say the requested delay in a dismissal order will give the defendant more time to seek immigration counsel.

Fox News’ Haley Chi-Sing contributed to this report.