Four Tren de Aragua Members Plead Guilty to 2024 New York Double Murder

Four members of the designated foreign terrorist organization Tren de Aragua pleaded guilty Thursday in the Southern District of New York to federal charges stemming from the May 24 2024 murders of Claretha LaQuesha Daniels and Justin Lawless and the shooting of a third unarmed victim in New York City.

Keiber Jaen Martinez also known as “Keybe,” Samuel Gonzalez Castro also known as “Klei” and “Kley,” Eferson Morillo-Gomez also known as “Jefferson” and “Efe Trebol,” and Keineyer Ibarra-Mujica also known as “Keiner” each entered guilty pleas before U.S. District Judge Denise L.

Cote to two counts of murder through the use of a firearm and one count of using a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, according to the Department of Justice.

The four men are illegal aliens who participated in the killings of two American citizens and the wounding of Victim-3, all unarmed residents of New York City, the department said. The pleas resolve the criminal liability of the named defendants for the specific acts charged; sentencing dates have not been announced.

The case marks the first time members of Tren de Aragua have pleaded guilty in federal court to murder charges inside the United States. The Department of Justice designated the Venezuelan gang a foreign terrorist organization in 2024. Conviction on the firearm-murder counts carries a mandatory minimum sentence of life imprisonment.

The guilty pleas trigger mandatory presentence investigation reports and set in motion formal sentencing proceedings in the Southern District of New York. Federal prosecutors must now prepare for potential cooperation or testimony from the defendants in any linked investigations targeting the broader Tren de Aragua network operating in the United States.

The outcome also supplies adjudicated facts that immigration authorities can use in removal proceedings against other TdA members.

This is the first federal terrorism-related gang prosecution in New York City to reach guilty pleas since the Trump administration’s 2025 expansion of TdA enforcement operations across multiple districts. The original criminal complaint was filed in the Southern District of New York following the May 24 2024 shootings.