Trinitarios Associate Pleads Guilty to Participating in Attempted Murder

BOSTON — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - Massachusetts), published as received.

BOSTON – An associate of the Lynn Chapter of the Trinitarios and drug supplier to the gang with connections to a Mexican drug cartel pleaded guilty on Oct. 7, 2026 to racketeering and drug charges, including organizing an attempted murder that the Trinitarios undertook on behalf of the cartel.

Janoy Batista, a/k/a “El Viejo,” 47, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to conduct enterprise affairs through a pattern of racketeering activity, more commonly referred to as RICO conspiracy and drug conspiracy. U.S. Senior District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton scheduled sentencing for Jan. 7, 2027. Batista was arrested and charged in February 2025 with other leaders, members and associates of the Trinitarios.

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.

During the plea hearing, Batista admitted that he was an associate of the gang and that he supplied the gang with drugs from Cartel Jalisco Nuevo Generacion (“CJNG”).  CJNG would ship large quantities of cocaine and fentanyl to Batista in Lynn, Mass. utilizing car transport trucks. Batista would supply members of the Trinitarios with cocaine and fentanyl received from CJNG.

Batista further admitted that in November 2023, CJNG tasked him with killing a local drug contact who the cartel believed had stolen a large quantity of drugs. CJNG indicated that Batista would be required to kill the drug contact in order to continue receiving shipments. In November 2023, Batista organized a failed murder attempt  of the drug contact utilizing a Trinitarios member’s vehicle. During the incident in Salem, Mass., two shooters opened fire on the drug contact as he sat in his driveway, striking him multiple times. Batista picked up the shooters and driver involved in the attempted murder and drove them to an apartment controlled by the Trinitarios. The drug contact survived the incident.

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, 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. On June 9, 2026, additional federal racketeering and drug charges were unsealed charging 26 additional leaders, members and associates of the Lawrence, Haverhill and Boston Chapters of the gang. According to court documents, the Trinitarios have allegedly participated in five additional murders in Essex County since 2017, bringing the total of federally charged murders to 11, and the total number of federally charged defendants to 56.

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.

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