## Facts

- The United States filed a juvenile information charging a 16-year-old (“Juvenile Male #2”) with violent offenses arising from alleged MS-13 racketeering activity, including conspiracy and murder in aid of racketeering and firearm-caused deaths.
- The government moved to transfer the juvenile for adult prosecution under 18 U.S.C. § 5032.
- The charges stemmed from an alleged execution-style double homicide in the woods in Central Islip, New York: a 19-year-old woman and her two-year-old son were allegedly taken into the woods and shot as part of gang activity.
- The juvenile had a difficult upbringing, including poverty in El Salvador, parental abandonment, early exposure to drugs and alcohol, and entry into the United States at a young age.
- The juvenile allegedly joined MS-13 around age 13 and had a prior delinquency record, with earlier lenient treatment and rehabilitative efforts that did not prevent further criminal conduct.
- At the transfer hearing, competing neuropsychological testimony addressed the juvenile’s intellectual development and maturity: one expert described below-age intellectual functioning, while another indicated normal intelligence and some rehabilitative potential in a changed environment.

## Issues

1. Whether transferring Juvenile Male #2 to adult prosecution was “in the interest of justice” under 18 U.S.C. § 5032 after weighing the statutory factors.
2. How the extreme seriousness and gang-related nature of the alleged double homicide should be weighed against mitigating evidence concerning the juvenile’s background, development, and potential for rehabilitation.
3. Whether prior delinquency, past treatment efforts, and the limited availability or time horizon of juvenile programs supported transfer.

## Decision

- The court granted the government’s motion to transfer the juvenile to adult status for prosecution in district court.
- After an evidentiary hearing and post-hearing submissions, the court found that the § 5032 factors, taken together, favored transfer.
- The court gave decisive weight to the nature of the alleged offense—an execution-style, gang-related double homicide—and the corresponding need to protect the public.
- The court acknowledged mitigating circumstances (age, difficult background, and some evidence suggesting rehabilitative potential) but found them insufficient to outweigh the severity of the alleged conduct and the inadequacy of prior interventions.

## Legal Principles

- Under 18 U.S.C. § 5032, a district court may transfer a juvenile for adult prosecution if transfer is in the “interest of justice.”
- In assessing the interest of justice, courts consider: (1) age and social background; (2) nature of the alleged offense; (3) prior delinquency record; (4) present intellectual development and psychological maturity; (5) nature of past treatment efforts and response; and (6) availability of programs to address the juvenile’s problems.
- The nature and circumstances of the alleged offense may strongly support transfer, particularly where the conduct is exceptionally violent and connected to organized criminal activity.
- Evidence of difficult upbringing or developmental limitations may mitigate, but does not preclude transfer where public-safety concerns and statutory factors weigh heavily toward adult prosecution.
- Prior unsuccessful rehabilitative efforts and limited juvenile-program capacity within the remaining period of juvenile jurisdiction may support a finding that transfer better serves public protection.

## Conclusion

The court ordered transfer to adult prosecution under § 5032, finding that the alleged MS-13-related execution-style murders and the failure of prior rehabilitative efforts made adult prosecution necessary in the interest of justice despite some evidence of youth-related mitigation and rehabilitative potential.


United States v. Juvenile Male #2, 761 F. Supp. 2d 27 (E.D.N.Y. 2011)