The white van rolled up next to him as he and his friends stood outside a Hempstead laundry on a hot summer evening two years ago, Douglas Sorto, then 16, recalled Tuesday. Someone screamed "La Mara," short for the Hispanic gang MS-13, uttered an insult in Spanish and opened fire, Sorto said. The shot passed through his left leg, Sorto testified in U.S. District Court in Central Islip.
Federal prosecutors Richard Donoghue and Wayne Baker said the shooting was the first of three in Hempstead and Freeport that night by two members of MS-13 as they sought to target members of rival gangs. None of the shootings were fatal.
David Vasquez, 26, and Ledwin Castro, 23, both of Freeport, face 30 years to life in prison if convicted of racketeering conspiracy to commit assault. The trial started Tuesday before District Judge Leonard Wexler.
Castro's attorney, Terrence Buckley, and Vasquez's attorney, Charles Hochbaum, argued their clients were being tried in the wrong court. In a state court, they would probably face only 15 years in prison.
The cases against Castro and Vasquez are the first involving the arrests of 28 members of MS-13 last year by an FBI task force. Fourteen have pleaded guilty to various charges.