MS-13 Member Gets 20 To Life For Brutal Nassau Murder

MASSAPEQUA, NY — An MS-13 member involved in the murder of a 19-year-old in the Massapequa Preserve in 2017 was sentenced today to decades behind bars.

Antonio Cullal, 26, was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison for the murder of Julio Cesar Espantzay-Gonzales in 2017. He pleaded guilty on June 15 to second-degree murder and second-degree conspiracy.

“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 Nassau County District Attorney 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.”

Espantzay-Gonzales was reported missing on Jan. 31, 2017. On March 23 that year, his body was found by a person walking their dog in the Massapequa Park Preserve.

According to Smith, Espantzay-Gonzales was lured to the park on Jan. 28, 2017 by Kevin Granados-Coreas and others with the promise of sex and drugs. Once there, Cullal, Granados-Coreas, Raul ponce and Gerson Stanley Juarez attacked Espantzay-Gonzales, Smith said, hacking him to death with machetes. They left his body covered with tree branches, leaves and brush, Smith said.

Smith said that Carlos Portillo and Robert Abrego-Reyes ordered the murder because Espantzay-Gonzales was perceived to be an enemy of the gang.

Cullal was arrested in Maryland on Oct. 4, 2017 by members of the Nassau County Police Department and the U.S. Marshals. The cases against Portillo, Granados-Coreas, Ponce, and Abrego-Reyes are pending.