MS-13 Member Pleads Guilty To 2017 Massapequa Preserve Slaying

MASSAPEQUA, NY — A Hempstead member of the MS-13 gang pleaded guilty today for his part in the 2017 murder of Julio Cesar Espantzay-Gonzales in the Massapequa Park Presever.

Antonio Cullal, 26, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and second-degree conspiracy. He is due back in court for sentencing on Aug. 10, and is expected to serve 20 years to life in prison.

“A 19-year old man was mercilessly hacked to death with a machete by Antonio Cullal and a group of other MS-13 gang members because of their belief this young man was the gang’s enemy,” Acting Nassau District Attorney Joyce Smith said. “They callously discarded Julio Cesar Espantzay-Gonzales’ body under branches and leaves. I am thankful to our law enforcement partners for apprehending the people responsible for this senseless 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.