HEMPSTEAD, NY – Carlos Portillo, a high-ranking member of the MS-13 gang, was sentenced on Wednesday to 25 years to life in prison for orchestrating the January 2017 murder of 19-year-old Julio Cesar Espantzay-Gonzales in the Massapequa Preserve, announced Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly. Portillo was convicted of Murder in the Second Degree on January 26, 2023, after a week-long trial.
Espantzay-Gonzales was targeted by MS-13 due to his perceived affiliation with rival gang members. According to the investigation, Portillo provided weapons for the murder and coordinated the logistics of the attack, which included luring the teenager to the preserve with false promises of sex and marijuana
. Once there, Espantzay-Gonzales was brutally hacked to death with a machete and shot in the face. His body was discovered in March 2017 by a man walking his dog.
Three co-defendants, Kevin Granados-Coreas, Antonio Cullal, and Raul Ponce, have also been sentenced for their roles in the murder. Charges against three additional co-defendants, Roberto Abrego Reyes, Gerson Stanley Juarez, and Laura Campos, are still pending.
DA Donnelly emphasized the importance of prosecuting those responsible for the violence and reiterated the commitment of her office to eradicate the dangerous MS-13 gang from Nassau County.