MS-13 Gang Member Pleads Guilty To Roles In 4 Murders

NASSAU COUNTY, NY — An MS-13 gang member pleaded guilty today to his role in four murders across Nassau County, and is expected to be sentenced to decades behind bars.

Raul Ponce, aka Shadow, 23, of Hempstead, pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder for the deaths of Bryan Steven Cho Lemus and Julio Cesar Espantzay-Gonzalez, and two counts of second-degree manslaughter for the deaths of Nelson Rodriguez and Osmin Campos-Sandoval. The crimes all took place between 2016 and 2017.

Ponce is due back in court on Jan. 25, 2022, and is expected to be sentenced to 32 years to life in prison.

“Raul Ponce and his co-defendants participated in the tragic murders of four people, targeted because they disrespected MS-13, were perceived enemies of the gang, or were caught up in this transnational gang’s senseless, unprovoked violence,” said Acting District Attorney Joyce Smith. “We remain committed to ridding this reprehensible violence from our communities and thank our many law enforcement partners, including the Nassau County Police Department, for their continued cooperation.”

Smith said Ponce was responsible for the murders of Bryan Lemus on Aug. 23, 2016, and Julio Espantzay-Gonzales on Jan. 28, 2017.

On Aug. 23, 2016, Bryan Lemus, who was a perceived enemy of MS-13, was walking his dog on Arthur Street in Uniondale. He was lured to the Massapequa Preserve with promises of sex and drugs. When there, Lemus was killed with machetes by Ponce and other members of MS-13.

His 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 canvass of the area.

Smith said that Ponce and others also 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 park, Ponce and others hacked Espantzay-Gonzales to death with machetes. They later disposed of the body under tree branches, leaves and brush.

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

Ponce was arrested by Nassau County police on June 6, 2019 for the deaths of Lemus and Espantzay-Gonzales. But he also played a role in the deaths of two others.

On March 20, 2017, Ponce and other members of MS-13 shot 39-year-old Nelson Rodriguez to death as he was walking on Front Street after finishing work at an auto body shop. Ponce and 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, Pedro Rivera was ordered to kill Rodriguez because he was a perceived enemy of the gang. 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 for their roles in the murder and both were sentenced to 50 years to life in prison on Oct. 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 Oct. 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. Police 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.