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Antonio Cullal, age 26, of Hempstead, was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison for his role in the murder of 19-year-old Julio Cesar Espantzay-Gonzales.
Cullal pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and second-degree conspiracy on June 15, , according to the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office.
“Antonio Cullal and other MS-13 gang members followed the orders they were given by the gang hierarchy and killed Julio Cesar Espantzay-Gonzales simply because the gang believed he was their ‘enemy,’” said Acting DA Joyce Smith. “They lured the unassuming 19-year old to the Massapequa Park Preserve, viciously hacked him to death with a machete, and abandoned his body in the brush.
"I thank our law enforcement partners for their assistance in the investigation and prosecution of yet another tragic and unconscionable gang murder.”
Investigators said Espantzay-Gonzales was reported missing in January of 2017. The DA's Office said his body was found by a dog walker in the Massapequa Park Preserve on March 23 of that year. The DA said the 19-year-old had been lured to the woods on Jan. 28 by Kevin Granados-Coreas and others.
When he was in the preserve, Cullal along with Granados-Coreas, Raul Ponce and Gerson Stanley Jaurez allegedly hacked the 19-year-old to death with machetes, the DA's Office said.
An indictment said the murder was allegedly ordered by Carlos Portillo and Roberto Abrego-Reyes because Espantzay-Gonzales was perceived to be an enemy of the gang.
Cullal was arrested in Maryland in October of 2017 by Nassau County Police and the U.S. Marshals.
The DA's Office said cases against Portillo, Granados-Coreas, Ponce, and Abrego-Reyes are pending.
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