MS-13 Member Gets 32 Years To Life In Prison For Nassau Murders

HEMPSTEAD, NY — A Hempstead member of the MS-13 gang was sentenced to decades in prison today for his role in multiple murders across Nassau County that occurred in 2016 and 2017.

Raul Ponce, 23, of Hempstead, pleaded guilty on Nov. 30, 2021 to two counts of second-degree murder for the deaths of Bryan Steven Cho Lemus and Julio Cesar Espantzay-Gonzales; and two counts of first-degree manslaughter for the deaths of Nelson Rodriguez and Osmin Campos-Sandoval. Ponce was sentenced today to 32 years to life in prison.

“Working in concert with a spiderweb of co-defendants and fellow gang members, Raul Ponce was part of an unprecedented wave of violence here in Nassau County, killing again and again in the name of MS-13,” said Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly. “We’ve made tremendous strides against MS-13 in the last few years, but they’re still an active and violent gang here on Long Island. This office will continue working with our law enforcement partners to aggressively prosecute gang members who threaten the safety of our communities.”

According to the Donnelly, on August 23, 2016, Bryan Lemus, a perceived enemy of MS-13, was walking his dog on Arthur Street in Uniondale when he was lured into the Massapequa Preserve. While inside the park, Lemus was killed with machetes by Ponce and other members of MS-13.

Lemus’ body was found on May 24, 2019, in a shallow grave inside the Massapequa Preserve by members of the Nassau County Police Department’s Homicide Bureau during a search of the area.

Additionally, Ponce and others lured 19-year-old Espantzay-Gonzales into the woods at the Massapequa Park Preserve on Jan. 28, 2017 with promises of sex and marijuana. Once in the preserve, Ponce and others hacked Espantzay-Gonzales to death with machetes. They later disposed of the body under tree branches, leaves and other brush.

Espantzay-Gonzales’ body was found by a dog-walker in the preserve on March 23, 2017.

Ponce was arrested by Nassau County police on June 6, 2019, for the deaths.

Ponce also pled guilty in November 2021 to manslaughter in the deaths of Nelson Rodriguez and Osmin Campos-Sandoval.

Donnelly said that on March 20, 2017, Ponce and other members of MS-13 took part in the shooting death of 39-year-old Nelson Rodriguez as he walked on Front Street after he left work at an auto body shop. Ponce, acting in concert with others, drove from Uniondale to Hempstead looking for a member of a rival gang to shoot and kill in retaliation for an assault on an MS-13 member.

Though Rodriguez was not a member of the rival gang, previously convicted gang member Pedro Rivera was ordered to kill Rodriguez because he was a perceived enemy of MS-13. Rivera shot Rodriguez once in the head, and after he fell to the ground, shot him again in the back. Rodriguez was transported to Nassau County University Medical Center where he later died.

Rivera and another co-conspirator, Carlos Flores, were convicted at trial for their roles in the murder and both were sentenced to 50 years to life in prison on October 1, 2019.

Ponce was also charged in the death of Osmin Campos-Sandoval, who was reported missing on June 3, 2016 and whose remains were found near the Uniondale water tower on October 6, 2020.

Campos-Sandoval was last seen on June 1, 2016 in the Hempstead area when he told family he was meeting with a girl in Hempstead and never returned home. The investigation determined that Campos-Sandoval was lured into the wooded area near the water tower where he was shot with a gun provided by Ponce and stabbed multiple times with a machete.

Ponce was arrested by Nassau police on Nov. 11, 2021 for his role in the deaths of Rodriguez and Sandoval.