Two admitted murderers - including one who is an illegal immigrant - will serve just five years in prison each under a plea deal with a progressive Virginia prosecutor.
Maldin Anibal Guzman and Wis Alonso Sorto-Portillo pleaded guilty to the 2024 mob killing of Nicacio Hernandez Gonzalez, who was found dead with trauma to his body in Fairfax County, according to police.
Both men pleaded guilty to second-degree murder by mob and were sentenced to 25 years in prison, with 20 years suspended, leaving five years to serve, Fox News has learned. A judge accepted the plea agreements.
Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney Steve Descano secured the guilty pleas, reducing potential decades-long sentences in a case his office said lacked key physical evidence.
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Descano's office defended the agreement, telling Fox News the deal was "the only way to ensure that the defendants were incarcerated."
"There was no DNA or any physical evidence at the scene. All witnesses in this case were terrified to come forward or assist with prosecution," the office said.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed that Guzman is an unlawfully present Honduran national who entered the U.S. illegally in 2018 and was ordered removed by an immigration judge in 2019.
ICE said it lodged multiple detainers against Guzman between 2022 and 2023, but the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center declined to honor them and released him from custody.
The agency also said Guzman has prior convictions, including burglary and assault, before his arrest in the 2024 killing.
ICE said it has no record of interaction with Sorto-Portillo.
Hernandez Gonzalez was found dead in a wooded area in the 9500 block of Route 29 in Oakton just after 3 p.m. on July 20, 2024, according to Fairfax County police.
Detectives arrested Guzman, 27, and Sorto-Portillo, 45, both listed as having no fixed address, and initially charged them with malicious wounding by mob. A third suspect, Wilmer Adli Guzman, 20, was later arrested in Washington, D.C., police said.
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Descano's office has pursued a reform agenda since he took office in 2020, including ending requests for cash bail and implementing sentencing policies aimed at reducing incarceration, according to his office's website.
The case comes as Fairfax County has seen multiple homicide cases involving illegal immigrants this year, according to reporting cited by federal officials.
The Department of Homeland Security highlighted the trend on social media, calling on Virginia leaders to change policies they say allow illegal immigrants accused of violent crimes to remain in communities.
The county's illegal immigrant crime problem has not abated: of four murders this year, three were allegedly committed by illegal immigrants, according to DHS.
"Governor Spanberger must end her sanctuary policies that allow these illegal aliens onto our streets," the agency wrote.
She has not responded to multiple requests for comment from Fox News.
