Trump admin celebrated the prosecution of accused MS-13 ringleaders. Then the case fell apart twice

The Trump administration celebrated the arrival of an alleged MS-13 mastermind on American soil in March 2025.

But it was Moises Rivera-Luna — a man whom the Justice Department says ordered murders in the US from inside a Salvadoran jail cell more than a decade ago — who fell to his knees, stunned and grateful, in a Washington, DC, courtroom this April.

It was the second time in five months the Justice Department had tried him before a federal jury. And for the second time, his jury failed to reach a verdict.

At very least, the MS-13 case has become the portrait of the unpredictability of Washington, DC, juries.

“It’s just the wheels of justice rolling along,” Christopher Davis, the defense attorney of a cooperating witness in the MS-13 case, told CNN during the April trial.

“DC juries tend to lean left, and they’re highly educated,” Davis said. “They take their job seriously. They overturn every stone.”