An alleged MS-13 leader accused of working with an assassination squad that executed four people in Honduras, including the son of the country’s former president, was able to obtain a California driver’s license using his real identity, federal officials revealed Tuesday.
Gerson Emir Cuadra Soto, aka “Fantasma,” crossed into the US illegally from Mexico in 2022 after allegedly bribing his way out of a Honduran jail — but his extended taste of freedom was finally dashed on Monday when federal agents nabbed him in Nebraska, according to the Department of Justice.
Before the 33-year-old Honduran national was arrested he somehow managed to get a driver’s license in the Golden State, providing a thumbprint which was eventually used to confirm the international fugitive’s identity, prosecutors said in a criminal complaint against Cuadra Soto.
Alleged MS-13 leader Gerson Emir Cuadra Soto was able to recieve a California driver’s license using his real identity, according to federal officials. Hall County Department of Corrections
It’s unclear which California DMV office issued the illegal migrant a license.
Just last month, California revoked 17,000 licenses after the Trump administration raised concerns about illegal immigrants improperly receiving them to drive trucks or buses.
The crackdown came after Jashanpreet Singh, a 21-year-old illegal immigrant trucker with a California license, allegedly plowed his tractor trailer into eight cars, killing three people in a horrific pile-up in the state.
A state law passed in 2013 allows Californians to apply for a driver’s license without proof of their immigration status if they can establish their identity and California residency, pass a driving test, a vision test, and show proof of insurance.
It’s not clear how Soto was able to prove these requirements.
MS-13 gang member seen at CECOT prison in El Salvador on Jan. 27, 2025. AFP via Getty Images
Since the law took effect in 2015, over 1 million undocumented immigrants have received licenses, according to reports.
The Post has reached out to California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office for comment.
Federal authorities caught up with Cuadra Soto in Grand Island, Nebraska where he was living in an apartment. He was charged in federal court with illegal entry of an unlawfully present alien.
Start your day with all you need to know
Morning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more.
Thanks for signing up!
Based on surveillance video, police reports, and witness interviews, Cuadra Soto was part of a “professional assassination squad” that murdered four individuals on the morning of July 14, 2022 in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
One of the victims was former Honduran President Porfirio Lobo Sosa’s son, Said Lobo Bonilla, Fox News reported.
Four days after the quadruple slaying, Cuadra Soto allegedly bribed Honduran officials with $125,000 to get out of jail, where he was being held on firearms charges connected to the killings.
Federal officials called Cuadra Soto a leader of MS-13, which has been designated as a terrorist organization under the Trump administration.
Honduran authorities identified Cuadra Soto as a close associate of Yulan Archaga Carias, known as “Porky,” who is believed to be the boss of MS-13 in Honduras, according to Fox News. He is listed on the FBI’s Most Wanted List.