More than three years after his headline-making arrest, a Mendota MS-13 gang leader is headed to federal prison for 10 years and a month.

Denis Barrera-Palma, 27, received his sentence Tuesday at the federal courthouse in downtown Fresno.

He pleaded guilty to assault with a deadly weapon and drug trafficking conspiracy charges on Feb. 28, 2020.

According to a news release from U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert, Barrera-Palma led the Mendota chapter of La Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), a violent criminal street gang that engages in racketeering, murder, kidnapping, extortion, and drug trafficking.

Pipe Attack at Mendota Elementary School

On May 14, 2018, Barrera-Palma, along with others, assaulted another individual with a pipe in front of an elementary school in Mendota. The motivation for the assault, according to court documents, was to enhance Barrera-Palma’s standing in MS-13.

Court documents also state that the gang, through Barrera-Palma, would acquire drugs, and distribute them among members with a directive that they sell the drugs within a certain period of time and return all proceeds to the gang.

Profits from the drug sales funded trips to buy more drugs and commit violent acts, put money “on the books” of incarcerated MS-13 members, and send money to MS-13 leaders in El Salvador.

Arrests Announced at News Conference

In August 2018, 25 individuals associated with MS-13 were arrested on federal and state charges after a year-long multi-agency investigation dubbed “Operation Blue Inferno.”

Then state Attorney General Xavier Becerra attended a news conference announcing the arrests, as did Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims and Fresno County District Attorney Lisa Smittcamp.

“When you talk about maiming human life, scarring them to the point that you don’t recognize them, I don’t know if you would call them human beings,” Becerra said of MS-13.

All 15 of Barrera-Palma’s federal co-defendants were sentenced previously.

The Prosecutors

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ross Pearson and Kimberly Sanchez prosecuted this case.

Senior Deputy District Attorney Dennis Lewis is working with the team and prosecuting related cases in Fresno County Superior Court.