Marvin Abel Hernandez Palacios, a member of the infamous MS-13 gang, has been sentenced to a record 1,335 years in prison by Salvadoran prosecutors. He has been found guilty of numerous horrific crimes, including homicide, femicide, trafficking, disappearances, and extortion.
As part of the El Salvador government’s crackdown on gangs, 248 members of the MS-13, a.k.a. Mara Salvatrucha, have been prosecuted and sentenced to massive sentences. Apart from Palacios, 10 of his fellow gang members have received sentences of over 400 years.
These include Fredy Edgardo Mendez Osorio (958 years), Miguel Angel Chavez Guzman (880 years), Kelvin Edgardo German Rivas (739 years), Melvin Josue Quintanilla Chavez (745 years), and Germán Obelio Magaña Madrid (702 years).
#CombateAPandillas | La @FGR_SV ha logrado condenas ejemplares de hasta 1,335 años de cárcel para 248 pandilleros de la clica TLS de la MS, por delitos cometidos entre el 2014 al 2022 en La Libertad en perjuicio de 169 víctimas.
Entre los graves hechos que estos criminales… https://t.co/SRsuvHYanW pic.twitter.com/MPL4x29NJW
— Fiscalía General de la República El Salvador (@FGR_SV) December 21, 2025
The gang members have been convicted of 43 cases of aggravated homicide, 42 cases of disappearance of persons, 3 cases of aggravated femicide, 86 cases of extortion, 32 cases of illicit trafficking, and several other crimes. These crimes were committed between 2014 and 2022, and targeted 169 victims.
Announcing the sentence, El Salvador’s attorney general, Rodolfo Antonio Delgado Montes, took to X and wrote, “The @FGR_SV has achieved exemplary convictions of up to 1,335 years in prison for 248 gang members of the TLS clique of the MS, for crimes committed between 2014 and 2022 in La Libertad to the detriment of 169 victims.”
Montes also highlighted some high-profile cases in which the gang members were involved.
He wrote,
“Among the serious acts that these criminals carried out are: The disappearance and homicide of the siblings Karen and Eduardo Guerrero Toledo, which occurred in December 2021.”
MS-13 was formed in Los Angeles during the 1980s by immigrants fleeing civil war in El Salvador. Over time, the gang spread to Central America. Law enforcement agencies consider MS-13 a significant public safety threat, and it was declared a Foreign Terrorist Organization by Donald Trump this year.
El Salvador does it right. MS-13 convictions.
Marvin Abel Hernandez Palacios, was sentenced to 1,335 years in prison, while 10 others received prison terms ranging from 463 to 958 years.
— Frequency Modulation FM (@RodHanson23261) December 22, 2025
The people of El Salvador have been terrorised because of gang wars for decades now, making Central America one of the most violent regions in the world. Homicide rates in the country were at a record high until 2022 as MS-13 and its rival gang, Barrio 18, murdered over 200,000 people in 30 years. They held control over 80% of the country until three years ago.
In March 2022, 87 people were murdered in the country in a single weekend, which prompted the government to take action against the gangs. President Nayib Bukele then initiated an intense crackdown and ordered arrests without warrants for people linked to the crime syndicates.
According to official data, over 90,000 people have already been arrested, and the government is actively working to prosecute them. As a result, homicide rates have significantly decreased and reached 1.9 per 100,000 people in 2024.
Coming back to Palacios, his 1,335-year sentence is enormous, but it is still not the longest-ever prison sentence in history. That record is held by Thai financial criminal Chamoy Thipyaso, who was sentenced to a whopping 141,078 years in prison in 1989.
