Leader of the Manchester Chapter of the Trinitarios Pleads Guilty to Racketeering Conspiracy

BOSTON - A member of the Manchester Chapter of the Trinitarios pleaded guilty today to racketeering charges, including his participation in two murders and two other attempted murders.

Luis Jeffrey Santana, a/k/a "Sopita," 28, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to conduct enterprise affairs through a pattern of racketeering activity, more commonly referred to as RICO conspiracy. U.S. Senior District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton scheduled sentencing for Sept. 9, 2026. Luis Jeffrey Santana was arrested and charged in February 2025.

The Trinitarios is a violent criminal enterprise comprised of thousands of members across the United States. The Trinitarios adhere to a Magna Carta, employ an internal hierarchy to coordinate and execute violence, and undertake extensive efforts to maintain the secrecy of the organization and its members.

Luis Jeffrey Santana admitted to his participation in an August 2021 shooting outside of a store in Salem, Mass. During this incident, Luis Jeffrey Santana and other Trinitarios members confronted two victims they believed to be rival gang members and engaged in a verbal altercation with them in the store. The Trinitarios and victims separated, exited the store and proceeded in different directions. The Trinitarios members, however, called for reinforcements who arrived shortly thereafter. The victims proceeded to their vehicle and as they turned out of the parking lot, a black sedan containing multiple Trinitarios pulled up and a shooter began firing multiple rounds at the victims. At the same time, a second vehicle pulled out and blocked traffic while the shooting took place.

Luis Jeffrey Santana was one of the leaders who convened a gang meeting in Dec. 1, 2024. During the recorded meeting, the Trinitarios discussed the reorganization and restructuring of the Trinitarios chapters, including the need for members to pay dues and contribute to the gang's operations. During one portion of the recording, the leaders discussed the need to have money on hand to help members who commit shootings and to fund a war against rival gang members. They also discussed the potential violence that will be visited upon members who betray the gang.

During today's court proceedings, Luis Jeffrey Santana admitted to his membership in the gang. Photographs and videos recovered in the investigation showed Luis Jeffrey Santana wearing Trinitarios beaded necklaces, making Trinitarios gang signs with his hands and associating with other members and leaders.

In February 2025, federal racketeering charges were unsealed against 22 leaders and members of the Trinitarios. The charges were the result of a multijurisdictional investigation, dubbed Operation Paper Machetes, which began in the aftermath of four murders as well as a series of attempted murders and shootings that took place in Lynn in 2023, allegedly committed by the Trinitarios criminal enterprise and its members. In March 2025, a Lynn member of the Trinitarios was sentenced to ten years in prison. In June 2025Links to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link., two members of the Trinitarios were charged with kidnapping a drug supplier. In July 2025, the leader of the Lynn Chapter was sentenced to fourteen years in prison. In December 2025, two members of the Lynn Chapter, Michael Miliano and James Jimenez pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy. In April 2026, Luis Enrique Santana pleaded guilty. In May 2026, Westyn Lantigua pleaded guilty. Luis Jeffrey Santana is the eleventh Defendant to plead guilty in the case.

The charge of conspiracy to conduct enterprise affairs through a pattern of racketeering activity (also known as "racketeering conspiracy" or "RICO conspiracy") provides for a sentence of up to life in prison, five years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

United States Attorney Leah B. Foley; Jeff Grimming, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New England; Ted E. Docks, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; Essex County District Attorney Paul F. Tucker; Massachusetts State Police Colonel Geoffrey D. Noble; and Lynn Police Chief Christopher P. Reddy made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by the Manchester, N.H. Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip A. Mallard of the Organized Crime & Gang Unit is prosecuting the case.

This case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF Boston is comprised of agents and officers from HSI, FBI, DEA, ATF, USMS, IRS-CI, USPIS, DOL-OIG and DSS, as well as several state and local law enforcement agencies, with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department's Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces and Project Safe Neighborhood.