Mara Salvatrucha has been sent to prison for illegally entering United States. (Representational Photo)
The founder of a notorious street gang has been sentenced to prison in Massachusetts for illegally entering the United States after having been deported.
Carlos Geovanni Martinez-Aguilar, of Mesquite, Texas, was sentenced on Tuesday by a US District Court judge in Boston to three years in prison followed by two years of probation.
Martinez-Aguilar pleaded guilty in April to unlawful re-entry of a deported alien.
Prosecutors say Martinez-Aguilar, a native of El Salvador, illegally entered the US in 1995. In 2002, he was convicted of unarmed robbery. He was deported in July 2003.
Prior to his deportation, Martinez-Aguilar was a leader of the MS-13 gang in the North Shore area of Massachusetts.
Authorities say MS-13, or Mara Salvatrucha, has origins in El Salvador. It is notorious for using extreme violence.