FILE – President Donald Trump speaks to the media, Friday, June 27, 2025, in the briefing room of the White House in Washington (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File).
The Trump administration is trying to “avoid public scrutiny” by asking a federal court to keep a motion to dismiss criminal charges against a “violent” MS-13 gang leader under wraps while it attempts to deport him to El Salvador, a judge said Wednesday.
“In this case, the government appears to be making inconsistent representations and the public has a right to know,” wrote U.S. District Judge Joan M. Azrack in a 29-page order handed down in the Eastern District of New York.
Azrack shot down a request Wednesday from the Justice Department to keep a motion to dismiss filed in April in the case of alleged MS-13 member Vladimir Arevalo Chavez, also known as “Vampiro de Monserrat Criminales,” sealed after the DOJ announced plans to deport him to El Salvador. Arevalo was one of 13 alleged gang leaders charged with racketeering conspiracy, conspiracy to provide or conceal material support to terrorists, and narco-terrorism conspiracy in February 2023.
“The Government filed the motion under seal and asked the court to dismiss the charges against Arevalo-Chavez (and for him to be sent to El Salvador) before the public would have a chance to see the motion,” Azrack, a Barack Obama appointee, explained in her order.
“Such a course would prove legally impermissible,” the judge said. “The public has a right under the First Amendment to know about this motion unless the Government has identified an overriding compelling interest that warrants sealing. The Government failed to do so here.”
Love true crime? Sign up for our newsletter, The Law&Crime Docket, to get the latest real-life crime stories delivered right to your inbox
According to Azrack, the government”s desire to “avoid public scrutiny” of a decision to seek dismissal of Arevalo’s criminal charges does not justify sealing the motion. She pointed to “public pronouncements” made by the Trump administration just two weeks before Arevalo’s motion was filed under seal, where the government took a hard stance on holding MS-13 members accountable in American courtrooms.
“Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Department of Justice told the public … that MS-13 members would face ‘swift American justice for their heinous crimes,'” Azrack recounted.
She said continuing to seal the DOJ’s motion to dismiss was not acceptable as the case involves “issues of significant public interest” and the reasons provided by the government “were not sufficient to justify sealing here.”
Azrack noted that when given the chance, Arevalo did not ask for the motion to stay sealed. “While that is certainly not dispositive, it indicates that he at least believes that public notice of the motion to dismiss would not threaten his own safety,” the judge charged.
DOJ officials did not respond to Law&Crime’s requests for comment Thursday.
