A Mineola MS-13 gang member was one of two men sentenced last week to at least 20 years for the machete murder of 22-year-old Carlos Rivas-Majanos in 2017, authorities said.
Luis Alejandro Varela, 24, known as the “Felon” of Mineola, and William Reyes-Fuentes, 27, of Uniondale, were sentenced Aug. 9 to 21 years to life and 20 years to life in prison, respectively.
In June, both men pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and conspiracy.
“MS-13 members Luis Alejandro Varela and William Reyes-Fuentes participated in one of the most violent murders this county has ever seen,” said Nassau District Attorney Anne Donnelly in a statement. “The defendants and their co-conspirators mercilessly hacked Carlos Rivas-Majano to death and left his body in a nearly inaccessible place near the Meadowbrook Parkway. Thanks to extraordinary work from our prosecutors and detectives, we were able to find Carlos’ body and bring his killers to justice.”
Donnelly said that on Aug. 11, 2017, the victim told a family member he was on his way home from a deli in Uniondale but never made it.
Rivas-Majano, who was seen as an enemy of the gang, was lured to the woods near Meadowbrook Parkway and Glen Curtiss Boulevard in Uniondale before being “hacked and stabbed to death with machetes,” police said.
Rivas-Majano’s body was recovered on Aug. 29, 2018. Police said the assailants are members of the Downtown Criminals clique of MS-13.
Co-defendants Carlos Benitze-Hernandez, Jose Quintanilla-Crus and Nerlin Chacon-Ruano each have pending cases against them.
Edar Ventura, another co-defendant, was sentenced to 32 years to life in 2019 after pleading guilty to two counts of murder and other charges for the deaths of Rivas-Majano and Alexon Moya. The Moya death was unrelated to murder of Rivas-Majano.
On Dec. 13, 2016, Ventura killed Moya while shooting at a perceived target of MS-13. Police said Ventura and another man, David Maldonado, were riding bikes in Uniondale before finding their target and ordering him out of the car.
After displaying gang signs, police said, Ventura fired several rounds and hit Moya, an unintended victim, in the head.
The sentencing is the latest in a series of prosecutions in the Eastern District of New York targeting the gang. The U.S. Department of Justice has described the gang as “the most violent criminal organization on Long Island.”
The gang’s leadership is based in El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico with several branches in the United States.
Since 2010, the Justice Department has obtained indictments charging MS-13 members with carrying out over 60 murders in the Eastern District of New York, which covers Nassau, Suffolk and three New York City counties of Queens, Kings and Richmond.
