An illegal alien gang member charged with the shooting death a New Jersey high school student outside Barack Obama Academy was sentenced to life in prison in federal court Wednesday.
Hugo Palencia, a.k.a. “Taliban,” was convicted back in June for his involvement in the murder of 17-year-old Plainsfield student Spencer Cadogan, who was shot in the head and killed in broad daylight as he was walking down a busy street in November of 2010. Local reports did not reveal that the murderer, Hugo Palencia (a.k.a. "Taliban") was an illegal alien.
At the time, authorities said Cadogan was simply an innocent bystander who just happened to be walking by when MS-13 members started shooting at a group of students at Plainfield, N.J.’s Barack Obama Academy. At the time of his conviction, the Justice Department released a statement detailing the incident:
On Nov. 11, 2010, Palencia drove another MS-13 member to the area around Barack Obama Academy in Plainfield, where they encountered students challenging MS-13. Palencia pulled over, handed a firearm to another MS-13 member and instructed him to shoot at one of the individuals. The MS-13 member shot into the crowd, killing a bystander.
However, the DOJ made no mention of the fact that Palencia was illegally in the country when he and his associates murdered their high school victim.
According to the Federal Register, it will cost American taxpayers about $30,600 per year to house Palencia in federal prison, based on 2014 figures and not adjusting for future rising costs.
Palencia wasn’t the only violent criminal gang-banger sentenced this week for crimes related to MS-13, a notoriously violent gang out of El Salvador that’s gained a reputation for hacking their victims up with machetes.
The DOJ reports that 43-year old Santos Reyes-Villatoro and 29-year-old Julian Moz-Aguilar, were also sentenced to life plus 120 months in prison for crimes related to racketeering conspiracy, murder in aid of racketeering, use of a firearm in a violent federal crime and murder resulting from a federal firearm crime. The charges stemmed from an incident in 2009, in which the two gang members shot and killed a man who they thought was a member of the Latin Kings, a rival gang.
Mario Oliva, 30, wound up with a life sentence plus 120 months in prison after he drove a woman to an empty parking lot and murdered her, all because he suspected her of working undercover with law enforcement.
Esau Ramirez, 25, was sentenced to life plus 169 months in prison both for racketeering conspiracy and conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering.
Cruz Flores, 30, was also arrested for murder related to the MS-13 clique, but has yet to be sentenced. Flores was arrested after he and another MS-13 member targeted a guy they caught socializing with the 18th Street gang, a rival group. Flores and the other perpetrator then cut his throat, beat him with a bat and stabbed him in the back 17 times.
While the Justice Department failed to state whether the convicted gang members were legally present in the United States when they committed their crimes, a spokesperson for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed to MRCTV that the agency had issued immigration detainers for all eight convicted gang members when they were originally arrested in 2011. ICE detainers are only placed on illegal aliens who are eligible for removal at the time they commit a crime.
And now, taxpayers will be on the financial hook for the rest of these illegal alien criminals’ lives.