MS-13 gang member is jailed for life for hacking to death 19-year-old man in New York park after luring him there with the promise of sex and drugs
- MS-13 gang member Antonio Cullal was sentenced Tuesday to 20 years to life in prison for his role in the January 2017 murder of Julio César Espantzay-González
- Cullal and other gang members lured the 19-year-old to a park in Massapequa, New York, on January 28, 2017 with the promised of sex and drugs
- Once Espantzay-González was in the Massapequa Park Reserve, the gang took turns hacking him with machetes
- The attack was ordered by two high-ranking members because they saw Espantzay-González as a rival
- According to Acting Nassau County District Attorney Joyce Smith, cases are still pending against four other gang members
An MS-13 gang member was sentenced to life in prison for hacking to death 19-year-old man to death in a New York park.
Antonio Cullal, 26, pleaded guilty to second degree murder and second degree conspiracy before Judge Helene Gugerty of the Nassau County Court on June 15. He was sentenced on Tuesday.
According to Acting Nassau County District Attorney Joyce Smith, Cullal and three other MS-13 gang members lured Julio César Espantzay-González to the Massapequa Park Reserve in Massapequa on January 28, 2017.
Investigators said that Espantzay-González was invited to the park under the promise of sex and marijuana before the gang killed him.
Antonio Cullal was sentenced Tuesday to 20 years to life in prison for his role in the January 2017 murder of Julio César Espantzay-González. He and other MS-13 gang members lured the 19-year-old to a park in Massapequa, New York, where they hacked him with machetes
High-ranking members of the MS-13 ordered the January 28, 2017 murder of Julio César Espantzay-González because they viewed him as the gang’s enemy, according to Acting Nassau County District Attorney Joyce Smith
Cullal, Kevin Granados-Coreas, Raúl Ponce and Gerson Stanley each took turns hacking Espantzay-González to death.
At the time, Nassau County Police Lieutenant Stephen Fitzpatrick said that Granados-Coreas had ‘befriended the victim in late 2016 around the holidays.’
The killing was carried out under the orders of high-ranking members, Carlos Portillo and Roberto Abrego-Reyes, because they considered Espantzay-González an enemy of the MS-13.
Nassau County Police Department sketch of Julio César Espantzay-González, who was killed by members of the MS-13 after he was lured to a park with the promise of sex and marijuana
A missing persons report for Espantzay-González was filed January 31, 2017. An individual walking their dog discovered his body in the woods March 23.
His body was found under a pile of tree branches, leaves and brush.
Cullal fled New York and was arrested in Maryland on October 4, 2017.
‘Antonio Cullal and other MS-13 gang members followed the orders they were given by the gang hierarchy and killed Julio César Espantzay-González simply because they gang believed he was their ‘enemy,’ Smith said in a statement.
‘They lured the unassuming 19-year-old to the Massapequa Park Reserve, viciously hacked him to death with a machete, and abandoned his body in the brush.’
The Nassau County District Attorney said that the cases against Granados-Coreas, Ponce, Portillo and Abrego-Reyes are still pending.
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