MS-13 Gang Member Sentenced After Violently Assaulting LI Teen, Leaving Him Unconscious: DA

BRENTWOOD, NY — An MS-13 gang member was sentenced to 20 years behind bars after kidnapping a teen, violently attacking him, and leaving him unconscious on Long Island, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said.

Josue, aka "Shrek," Zepeda Padilla, 28, of Huntington Station, was sentenced to 20 years in prison, followed by five years of post-release supervision, after pleading guilty in July to first-degree gang assault, first-degree assault, first-degree robbery, and second-degree kidnapping, in connection with his role in a January 6, 2024 violent attack on a 15-year-old at the Pilgrim State Mental Facility in Brentwood, Tierney said.

The attack left the teen unconscious, Tierney said. Zepeda Padilla was one of seven members and associates of the Huntington Criminal Locates Salvatrucha or "HCLS" clique of the MS-13 street gang that was convicted in connection with the attack, Tierney said.

According to the investigation, on the morning of January 6, 2024, the 15-year-old was lured to the Huntington train station by a group of MS-13 members and associates, the DA said.

While at the train station, Zepeda Padilla and four other suspected MS-13 members/associates surrounded teen and took his money, the DA said. Zepeda Padilla and the others then punched the teen repeatedly, knocked the victim to the ground, and kicked him multiple times, Tierney said.

After the assault, Zepeda Padilla and his MS-13 associates forced the boy into a vehicle and drove the victim to the Pilgrim Psychiatric Center in Brentwood; once there, the assailants placed a hood over the teen's head and brought him into an abandoned building, the DA said. Inside the building, Zepeda Padilla and the other MS-13 members/associates beat him repeatedly, struck him with a rock, and stabbed him in the neck, Tierney said.

Zepeda Padilla and the other assailants then fled the abandoned building and left the teen unconscious on the ground, the DA said.

"Miraculously, the victim lived through the assault," Tierney said.

He regained consciousness, found a way out of the building and walked to a nearby road where he collapsed, the DA said. A short time later he found by a good Samaritan who called 911, Tierney said.

The teen was brought to a local hospital, and required surgery, including a craniotomy, to treat a brain bleed and fractured skull; he ultimately survived his injuries, Tierney said.

Following the assault, Zepeda Padilla fled Suffolk County and was on the run for over a year; he was arrested in Winston-Salem, North Carolina by the United States Marshals and the New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Forces.

On July 3, Zepeda Padilla pleaded guilty before Supreme Court Justice Anthony S. Senft, Jr. to one count of first-degree gang assault, a Class B violent felony; one count of first-degree assault, a Class B violent felony; one count of first-degree robbery, a Class B violent felony; and one count of second-degree kidnapping, a Class B violent felony, Tierney said.

Zepeda Padilla’s co-defendant Yeison "Yerba" Chavez was sentenced to 52 years in prison, followed by five years of post-release supervision, after a jury convicted him in July, the DA said. Co-defendant Brayan "Gucci" Jimenez Avila previously pled guilty to first-degree gang assault and was sentenced to 10 years in jail followed by five years of post-release supervision, the DA said.

The remaining co-defendants, Maycoll "Pirata" Ramirez Cerrato, Marcos "Jero" Serpos, Maybelline Garcia Cornejo and Henry Lemus Nieto previously pleaded guilty to the charges contained in the indictment and are awaiting sentencing, Tierney said.

On Thursday, Zepeda Padilla was sentenced to 20 years in prison followed by five years of post release supervision, the DA said.

He was represented by Anthony Rutkowski, who could not immediately be reached for comment.

“This coordinated attack nearly cost a child his life. This defendant and his associates showed no mercy when they brutally assaulted, kidnapped, and left a 15-year-old unconscious in an abandoned building,” said District Attorney Tierney. “Today’s sentence ensures this defendant will spend the next two decades in prison. We are grateful to our law enforcement partners whose tireless work made this prosecution possible.”