Trinitarios Gang Leader Sentenced To Life In Prison For Murdering A Confidential Informant

 

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that WILLIAM JONES, a/k/a “Principe,” was sentenced to life in prison for the December 2019 murder of Frederick Delacruz.  JONES, who was a high-ranking member of the Trinitarios gang, lured Delacruz from the Bronx to Suffolk County, New York, where JONES shot and killed Delacruz next to a cemetery because Delacruz was acting as a confidential informant for law enforcement.  JONES was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos after being convicted by a jury following an eight-day trial in October 2023. 

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “William Jones executed Frederick Delacruz in cold blood because Delacruz had the courage to cooperate with law enforcement. Now, Jones will spend the rest of his life in a federal prison.” 

According to court filings and the evidence presented in court during the trial:

WILLIAM JONES was a high-ranking member of the Trinitarios, a racketeering enterprise that has engaged in a pattern of murder, attempted murder, drug trafficking, fraud, and witness tampering and retaliation.  On December 28, 2019, JONES and other Trinitarios lured Frederick Delacruz from the Bronx, New York, to Suffolk County, New York, where JONES shot and killed Delacruz because Delacruz was acting as a confidential informant for law enforcement.

Delacruz is the second known person whom JONES has murdered.  On October 18, 1993, JONES shot and killed Audrey Walker with a TEC .9mm assault weapon in the lobby of the Manhattan apartment building where Walker resided.  On October 26, 1994, JONES was convicted after a bench trial in New York County Supreme Court of intentional murder in the second degree. JONES was sentenced to nine years to life in prison.  He was released on parole on September 8, 2008.

JONES, 45, of the Bronx, New York, was convicted at trial of racketeering conspiracy, murder in aid of racketeering, and murder through the use of a firearm.

Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the New York City Police Department, and the Suffolk County Police Department.  He also thanked the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office for their assistance.