Notorious MS-13 member sentenced for drug trafficking
Notorious MS-13 member sentenced for drug trafficking
by: Erin McCullough
Posted: May 27, 2022 / 12:14 PM CDT
Updated: May 27, 2022 / 12:14 PM CDT
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – A Honduran national and MS-13 gang member was sentenced to seven and a half years in federal prison for drug distribution and firearms crimes, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Franklin Pineda-Caceras, also known as “Bomba,” 22, was initially charged with immigration violations, drug trafficking and firearms violations in July 2019 after previously being deported from the U.S.
He later pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including:
- Illegal reentry of a previously deported alien
- Being an illegal alien in possession of ammunition
- Being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm
- Possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number, and
- Possession of marijuana and cocaine with the intent to distribute
He was found guilty of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime Feb. 9, 2022.
Pineda-Caceras originally illegally entered the country in January 2014 and deported for the first time in June 2016.
Immigration officials later learned he had returned to the country when they found him in October 2017 in a Nashville residence with multiple drugs, drug paraphernalia, numerous handguns, an assault rifle and an arsenal of ammunition. He was deported again in May 2018.
The following January, Pineda-Caceras again illegally returned to the U.S. and kidnapped a student from a local area high school. He reportedly beat a local area high school student who refused to join MS-13 at his request.
Later, in July, Pineda-Caceras reportedly fled from an arrest attempt and endangered the lives of his girlfriend, son and girlfriend’s mother when he drove his car into his front yard where they were standing, nearly striking them.
Police would not encounter him again until nearly two months later. In September 2019, Pineda-Caceras was involved in a car accident where he sustained injuries. Officers later seized items from his car that tied him to drug trafficking, including digital scales, baggies, drugs, firearms and ammunition. Multiple cellphones also recovered revealed Pineda-Caceras was selling drugs in the hours prior to the crash.
Agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives; Homeland Security Investigation; the Drug Enforcement Agency; and Metro Nashville Police all investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ahmed Safeeyllah and Trial Attorney Matthew Hoff with the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section prosecuted the case.
https://www.wkrn.com/news/crime-trac...g-trafficking/
