Gang Member Who Killed Man In Botched Bed-Stuy Bike Robbery Jailed, Brooklyn DA Says

BEDFORD-STUYVESANT, BROOKLYN — A gang member involved in a botched bike robbery that killed a man and left the victim's brother wounded has been sentenced to 20 years in prison, the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office announced Wednesday.

Celestino Martinez, 25, pleaded guilty to helping four fellow Ninos Malos gang members attack Juan Carlos Luna-Juarez, 23, and his 27-year-old brother near Myrtle and Marcy avenues on Sept. 7, 2014, prosecutors said.

Luna-Juarez and his brother were coming from home around 1:50 a.m. when the gang surrounded them and demanded they hand over their money and bicycle, prosecutors said.

When the brothers refused, the Ninos Malos gang members attacked, punching, kicking and repeatedly stabbing the brothers, said prosecutors.

The 27-year-old was stabbed in the back and Luna-Juarez — who was stabbed at least 10 times — died from a knife wound that punctured his heart, prosecutors said.

Police quickly caught up with the attackers and found their clothing spattered with blood. They carried a knife, their victims’ backpack and had their bicycle, prosecutors said.

The four other gang members — Carmello Bello, 28, and Miguel Bello, 34, both of Bed-Stuy, and Javier Ortiz, 35, and Martin Carillo, 36, both of Sunset Park — were sentenced to 25 years in prison in August, after they were convicted of murder in a trial earlier this year.

Martinez pleaded guilty to manslaughter on Aug. 16 and was sentenced to 20 years in prison in Brooklyn Criminal Court on Wednesday, prosecutors said.

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