Alleged MS-13 Members Face New Charges In Nassau Murder

NASSAU COUNTY, NY — Five alleged members of MS-13 were indicted today on conspiracy charges related to the 2017 murder of a 21-year-old Nassau man whose body was found in a sump along the Meadowbrook Parkway a year later.

Luis Alejandro Varela, 23, also known as Felon, of Mineola; Carlos Benitez-Hernandez, 23, also known as Malaspecto, of Uniondale; Jose Quintanilla-Cruz, 26, also known as Destructo and Destructor, of Hempstead; Nerlin Chacon-Ruano, 23, also known as Callajero, of Hempstead; and William Reyes-Fuentes, 26, also known as Desobediente, of Uniondale, were all arraigned on charges of second-degree conspiracy. They are all due back in court in September.

They were all previously charged with second-degree murder. If convicted of the combined charges, they face 50 years to life in prison.

“Carlos Rivas-Majano was lured into the woods by people he believed to be his friends,” said Acting Nassau County District Attorney Joyce Smith. “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.”

According to Smith, on Aug. 22, 2017, Carlos Rivas-Majano told a family member that he was on his way home from a deli in Uniondale, but never came home. Rivas-Majano, a perceived enemy of MS-13, was lured into the woods near the Meadowbrook Parkway and Glen Curtiss Boulevard in Uniondale, Smith said, and was stabbed and hacked to death with machetes. His body was found in the sump on Aug. 29, 2018.

Smith said that all of the attackers are alleged members of the Downtown Criminals clique of MS-13.

A sixth person, Edar Ventura, was sentenced to 32 years to life in April of 2019 after pleading guilty to two counts of murder, and related charges, for the deaths of Rivas-Majano and Alexon Moya.