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Acting Nassau County District Attorney Joyce Smith announced that five alleged MS-13 members have been arraigned on grand jury indictment charges of conspiracy for the August 2017 machete murder of Carlos Rivas-Majano, whose body was found in a wooded area along the Meadowbrook Parkway a year later.
The latest charged with a felony count of second-degree conspiracy:
- Jose Alejandro Varela, also known as “Felon,” age 23, of Mineola;
- Carlos Benitez-Hernandez, also known as Malaspecto, age 23, of Uniondale;
- Jose Quintanilla-Cruz, also known as Destructo and Destructor, age 26, of Hempstead;
- Nerlin Chacon-Ruano, also known as Callajero, age 23, of Hempstead;
- William Reyes-Fuentes, also known as Desobediente, age 26, of Uniondale.
It is alleged that on Aug. 11, 2017, Rivas-Majano told a family member that he was on his way home from a deli in Uniondale and never returned home.
Smith said that Rivas-Majano, a perceived enemy of the gang, was lured into the woods near the Meadowbrook Parkway and Glen Curtiss Boulevard in Uniondale, where he was hacked and stabbed to death with machetes.
His body was recovered in a sump on Aug. 29, 2018. The assailants are alleged to be members of the Downtown Criminals clique of MS-13.
“Carlos Rivas-Majano was lured into the woods by people he believed to be his friends,” Smith said. “These defendants allegedly conspired to murder Rivas-Majano and mercilessly beat and hacked him with machetes.
“Rivas-Majano’s family suffered for more than a year until his body was finally located. MS-13 has torn apart families and communities here on Long Island and we re-affirm our commitment to dismantle this street gang.”
Chacon-Ruano is scheduled to appear back in court on Wednesday, Sept. 22, the other four are scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 7. If convicted, each faces a term of between 50 years to life in prison.
Another MS-13 member, Edar Ventura, was sentenced to 32 years to life in prison in 2019 after pleading guilty to two counts of murder for his role in the death of Rivas-Majano and a second victim.
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