18th Street Gang Member Sentenced for Firearm Charge

BOSTON – A Salvadoran national was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for being an alien in possession of a firearm.

Roberto Portillo, aka “Mysterio,” 24, a Salvadoran national previously residing in Chelsea, was sentenced by U.S. Senior District Court Judge Rya W. Zobel to one year and one day in prison. Portillo will face deportation proceedings upon completion of his sentence. In June 2018, Portillo pleaded guilty to one count of being an alien in possession of a firearm and ammunition.

The case arose from an investigation into the criminal activities of 18^th Street gang members. According to court documents, Portillo is a member of 18^th Street, a violent gang that has engaged in a long-running feud with MS-13. On Jan. 13, 2018, law enforcement officers were investigating drug dealing in East Somerville when they saw three people inside a gray Honda Accord purchase drugs. After confirming the drug sale, law enforcement stopped the car and frisked the front passenger, later identified as Portillo, and found a silver semi-automatic pistol with an obliterated serial number loaded with five rounds of .25 caliber CBC ammunition in his pocket. A subsequent review of immigration databases revealed that Portillo had not legally entered the country, making him an illegal alien in possession of a firearm.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Mickey D. Leadingham, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, Boston Field Division; Peter C. Fitzhugh, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; and Somerville Police Chief David Fallon made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Moran of Lelling’s Organized Crime and Gang Unit prosecuted the case.