A superseding indictment was returned yesterday in federal court in Brooklyn charging Oscar Flores-Mejia, an associate of La Mara Salvatrucha, also known as the MS-13, a transnational criminal organization, with murder in-aid-of racketeering and conspiracy to commit murder in-aid-of racketeering in connection with the April 23, 2018 murder of 17-year-old Andy Peralta in Queens, New York. Flores-Mejia was arrested on a criminal complaint in February 2021 and ordered detained pending trial. The defendant will be arraigned at a later date.
Mark J. Lesko, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, William F. Sweeney, Jr., Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), Peter C. Fitzhugh, Special Agent-in-Charge, Homeland Security Investigations, New York Field Office (HSI), and Dermot F. Shea, Commissioner, New York City Police Department (NYPD), announced the superseding indictment.
“After allegedly helping to torture and murder the teenage victim, the defendant leaned over his lifeless body and displayed the MS-13 hand sign, openly revealing his presence at the scene and linking MS-13 to this horrific crime,” stated Acting U.S. Attorney Lesko. “This Office and its federal, state and local law enforcement partners will not rest until the senseless brutality and violence of MS-13 has been eliminated and those responsible for the victim’s cruel and cold-blooded murder in Kissena Park have been held to account.” Mr. Lesko expressed his appreciation to the Queens County District Attorney’s Office and the New York City Department of Investigation for their assistance in the investigation.
“No one deserves to die simply to boost the standing of a gang member. Today’s indictment should serve as the FBI’s continuing sign to other gang members who commit violence in our neighborhoods. We work around the clock, and our connections are global. Behavior like the kind we allege today leads to a federal prison cell. Your stay will be a long one,” stated FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Sweeney.
“The heinous details of the Flores-Mejia case and his alleged involvement in the ruthless murder of a teen in 2018 is on par with MS-13’s core values of extreme violence and control,” stated HSI Special Agent-in-Charge Fitzhugh. “Transnational criminal street gangs like MS-13 serve only to terrorize our communities and prey upon our most vulnerable youth who are often left with little choice, join the gang or face the consequence. This unfair choice ends one of two ways, jail or death. In facing this threat, HSI continues to work with its federal and local law enforcement partners to arrest and prosecute those who commit senseless violence while simultaneously working with our communities to offer a better option, a chance for a future.”
“The federal indictment announced today answers for an unspeakably violent crime and sends a message that gangs like La Mara Salvatrucha can never be tolerated. I commend our NYPD detectives, our law enforcement partners and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York for bringing this important case,” stated NYPD Commissioner Shea.
According to court filings, on the evening of April 23, 2018, Peralta was lured to Kissena Park where he was ambushed in a wooded area by Flores-Mejia and two others. Peralta was believed to be a member of the 18th Street gang. Peralta had a tattoo of a crown on his chest which the defendant mistakenly believed to be a symbol of a rival gang. Peralta was repeatedly slashed, stabbed, beaten and strangled. A photograph taken of Peralta’s body depicts Flores-Mejia leaning over the victim and displaying an MS-13 hand sign.
