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Carlos Guerra, age 22, pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree manslaughter and conspiracy in Nassau County Court on Monday, Jan. 23.
Prosecutors said Guerra, a member of the Normandie clique of MS-13, participated in the December 2018 killings of Harold Sermeno in Lawrence and Ian Cruz in Far Rockaway.
On Dec. 15, 2018, 23-year-old Cruz, a perceived enemy of MS-13, was lured to Bayswater Point State Park in Far Rockaway with the promise of drugs and sex with a 13-year-old girl.
He allegedly met with the girl before walking to the park, where Guerra and several others, including a 15-year-old boy, hid with guns and knives.
According to prosecutors, that’s when Yonathan Sanchez emerged from the bushes and shot Cruz four times in the head with a .22 caliber revolver. They then took his belongings and fled to a Nameoke Street apartment where Sanchez and Guerra lived.
Before the murder, the group had allegedly shared pictures of Cruz disrespecting MS-13 and planned his murder.
Cruz’s body was found in just his underwear on a blanket the next day by someone at the park.
Two days after Cruz’s murder, on Dec. 17, 17-year-old Far Rockaway resident Harold Sermeno was lured to the Five Towns Community Center in Lawrence.
He and the 13-year-old girl drank and smoked at a picnic table, at which point the five others emerged from “strategic areas of the park,” and shot him several times in the head and chest, according to prosecutors.
Co-defendant Elmer Gutierrez later admitted to slicing Sermeno’s neck with a machete.
The group then fled to the same apartment. Sermeno’s body was found the following morning by someone walking their dog.
Police officers recovered the machete that was used in the murder of Sermeno and a .22 caliber revolver that was allegedly used in both murders at the Nameoke Street apartment.
Sanchez, Guerra, Gutierrez and two juveniles were arrested on December 19, 2018, in Far Rockaway by members of the NYPD. The sixth defendant, a juvenile, was arrested on December 28, 2018, by members of the NYPD and NCPD.
Sanchez and Gutierrez pleaded guilty to two counts of murder and two counts of conspiracy. Sanchez was sentenced to 34 years to life in prison in July 2020, while Gutierrez received 20 years to life in August 2021.
A suspect who was 15 at the time of the killings also pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder and is expected to be sentenced to 8 ½ years to life in prison. The cases against two other juvenile suspects are ongoing.
“Carlos Guerra and his co-defendants murdered two young men – within three days of each other – to move up the ranks of MS-13,” Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said.
“The victims in this case made the mistake of allegedly disrespecting MS-13 and were marked for death.”
Guerra is expected to be sentenced to 28 years behind bars in March 2023.
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