Fifth Person Arrested By ICE On Nantucket An Alleged MS-13 Gang Member

A fifth individual who was taken into custody by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents earlier this month on Nantucket was identified Thursday morning as Felix Angel Gabriel Deras-Mejia, a 30-year-old Salvadoran who the federal agency alleged is a documented MS-13 gang member illegally present in the United States. Deras-Mejia is facing two previous charges of assault and battery and one charge of disorderly conduct in Nantucket District Court.

“Angel Gabriel Deras-Mejia unlawfully entered the United States then made his way to Massachusetts, to apparently commit crimes of violence,” ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Boston Field Office Director Todd M. Lyons said in the announcement. “To make matters worse, Deras-Mejia is a documented member of a notorious transnational criminal organization and represents a significant threat to the residents of Nantucket. ERO Boston will continue to prioritize the safety of our public by aggressively apprehending and removing such threats from our New England communities.”

Family members and friends of Deras-Mejia reached out to the Current on Thursday stating he was not a gang member, and had attended high school on the island. ICE spokesman James Covington did not return a message seeking comment.

In its press release, ICE stated that Deras-Mejia unlawfully entered the United States on an unknown date and at an unknown location.

Deras-Mejia has had a few run-ins with island law enforcement over the past four months.

The first encounter was on May 29 when he was arrested by Nantucket Police and arraigned days later in Nantucket District Court on charges of assault on a family/household member and assault and battery on a family/household member.

Deras-Mejia was released on personal recognizance with pretrial conditions established that he stay away and have no contact/not abuse the alleged victim. He was given a bail revocation warning that if he was charged with another offense while the case was open he could be held in jail for up to 90 days without bail.

Those charges were eventually dismissed on September 9 – the day a bench trial was scheduled to take place – after the alleged victim in the case declined to cooperate with prosecutors. As a result, the case was closed, sealed, and, according to the court, that makes the police report for this case unavailable to the public.

Deras-Mejia was arrested on Nantucket for a second time on July 21 and arraigned the next day on one charge of assault and battery on a family/household member and one charge of disorderly conduct. He was again released on personal recognizance despite the bail revocation warning he received six weeks prior on the then-open criminal case and was ordered to return to court on Sept. 3 for a pretrial hearing, which was later rescheduled to Oct. 9 by the court.

According to the police report in this case, Nantucket Police officers responded to the Discovery Playground on Old South Road for a reported conflict that left children crying. Police officers stated that upon their arrival at the playg, they observed Deras-Mejia in a verbal altercation with a woman, and that Deras-Mejia was “drunk and was cursing, flaring his arms, yelling loudly, and distracting all civilians who were at the scene. He was acting this way right next to the reporting party’s residence and cars were coming to a slow as they were going by due to how loud the argument was.”

Police said Deras-Mejia would not calm down and proceeded to continue screaming at other individuals at the playground urging them to not give officers their IDs.

Police observed the woman who was in an argument with Deras-Mejia to have red marks on her neck area. She told police Deras-Mejia put his hands around her neck, and that the argument stemmed from Deras-Mejia and the woman arguing about who would take their children home.

Deras-Mejia was arrested for a third time by Nantucket Police officers on Aug. 26 and subsequently arraigned in court on one count of assault and battery on a household member. He had not-guilty pleas entered on his behalf and despite the two previous bail revocation warnings given by the court in the previous Nantucket  cases, Deras-Mejia was released on personal recognizance yet again while being ordered to return to court Oct. 9 for a pretrial hearing.

According to the Aug. 26 police report, NPD responded to an Appleton Road property where the Nantucket Fire Department had already responded to for a medical call. Police were informed by NFD that a possible assault had taken place in which Deras-Mejia allegedly got into a verbal argument altercation with his brother over “finances” at the property.

Eventually, the argument escalated to violence according to the police when Deras-Mejia punched his brother in the chest with a closed fist and knocked him to the ground. He then proceeded to kick his brother out of the house.

Four other men were arrested during ICE's multi-day operation on Nantucket from Sept. 9th - 13th including Bryan Daniel Aldana-Arevalo, Gean Do Amaral Belafronte, Elmer Sola, and Felix Alberto Perez-Gomez.

According to a press release issued by the Nantucket Police Department, "The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, not unlike many local, state, or federal agencies, requested our assistance with local knowledge of geographical areas of our town. The Nantucket Police Department, specifically the Detective Unit did assist with identifying requested addresses provided to them by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency."

On Wednesday, Nantucket Select Board chair Brooke Mohr issued the following statement on the situation: