A Virginia judge approved a Department of Justice motion to dismiss its case against an accused MS-13 leader, clearing the way for his deportation.

Henrry Josue Villatoro Santos was arrested in Woodbridge, Virginia, in a neighborhood just south of Washington, D.C., on March 27. FBI Director Kash Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi said he was a key leader of MS-13 on the East Coast. He was charged with illegal firearm possession.

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His deportation would send him to his native country, El Salvador, where he would likely be sent to El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center. The Trump administration secured a deal to send alleged gang members and other violent criminals to CECOT for $6 million per year.

According to Fox News, Muhammad Elsayed, counsel for Villatoro Santos, said at an April 15 hearing that the government hadn’t clarified what would happen to his client. In an earlier court motion, he said he objected to his client’s case dismissal and instead argued that he should be afforded due process.

He compared the case to the deportation of Salvadoran Kilmar Abrego Garcia, another alleged MS-13 gang member and the subject of a legal battle. He also said the decision to drop the case came from the top brass in the Trump administration.

“They have already determined the outcome, that he’ll go to the worst prison in the western hemisphere,” Elsayed said.

In a March press conference after Villatoro Santos’s arrest, Bondi, Patel, and other DOJ officials held a large press conference alongside Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) to draw attention to the matter.

DOJ MOVES TO DEPORT ALLEGED MS-13 LEADER INSTEAD OF PROSECUTE

Bondi said she planned to seek his deportation in a statement provided to the Washington Examiner.

“As a terrorist, he will now face the removal process,” Bondi said.