MS-13 member pleads guilty in Long Island massacre

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (AP) — A member of the MS-13 street gang has pleaded guilty to participating in the brutal massacre of four young men on New York's Long Island.

Prosecutors say 17-year-old Josue Portillo pleaded guilty in federal court in Central Islip Monday to racketeering charges.

Portillo admitted planning the April 2017 killings with other MS-13 defendants because he said they believed the four were rival gang members. The victims were lured to a park and attacked with machetes, knives and clubs.

The violence, including the 2016 slayings of two teenage girls in Brentwood, led to congressional hearings and visits to Long Island from both President Donald Trump and U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Portillo entered the country illegally from El Salvador. He faces up to life in prison when he is sentenced on Jan. 10.