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MS-13 Member Sentenced For 2017 Preserve Murder

An MS-13 gang member of Long Island has been sentenced to 23 years to life in prison for the murder of a 19-year-old man at an area park preserve in 2017.

Massapequa Park Preserve

Massapequa Park Preserve

Photo Credit: Google Maps street view

Kevin Granados-Coreas, age 23, a/k/a "Lonely," of Hempstead, was sentenced on Friday, June 10, said Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly.

Granados-Coreas had pleaded guilty in April to the murder of Julio Cesar Espantzay-Gonzales in the  Massapequa Park Preserve, the DA's Office said.

According to the investigation, Espantzay-Gonzales was reported missing on Jan. 31, 2017. On March 23, 2017, his body was found by a dog walker in the Massapequa Park Preserve, court records show.

 The victim was lured to the woods on Jan. 28, 2017, by Granados-Coreas and others with promises of sex and marijuana, officials said.

Once in the preserve Granados-Coreas, Antonio Cullal, Raul Ponce, and Gerson Stanley Juarez , hacked Espantzay-Gonzales to death with machetes. They later disposed of the body under tree branches, leaves, and other brush, the DA's Office said.

According to the indictment, Carlos Portillo and Roberto Abrego-Reyes allegedly ordered the murder of Espantzay-Gonzales because he was perceived to be an enemy of the gang.

Granados-Coreas was arrested in Hempstead by members of the Nassau County Police Department’s Homicide Squad on Aug. 15, 2017.

Cullal was previously sentenced to 20 years to life, while Ponce was sentenced to 32 years to life.

The cases against Portillo and Abrego-Reyes are pending.

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