Another Alleged MS-13 Member Charged With Nassau Murder: DA

Another alleged MS-13 member was arrested in connection with the murder of a 21-year-old Nassau man whose body was found in a sump in East Meadow late last August.

Luis Alejandro Varela, 21, also known as Felon, was arrested on Wednesday and charged with second-degree murder. He pleaded not guilty at his arraignment today. He is due back in court on July 22. If convicted, he faces up to life in prison.

“Luis Alejandro Varela, an alleged MS-13 member, and his co-defendants allegedly lured Carlos Rivas-Majano into the woods along the Meadowbrook Parkway and brutally hacked him to death with machetes,” said Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas. “We will spare no resource in our effort to dismantle this violent street gang, which terrorizes our vulnerable immigrant communities.”

According to Singas, on Aug. 22, 2017, Carlos Rivas-Majano told a family member that he was on his way home from a deli in Uniondale, but never came home. Rivas-Majano, a perceived enemy of MS-13, was lured into the woods near the Meadowbrook Parkway and Glen Curtiss Boulevard in Uniondale, Singas said, and was stabbed and hacked to death with machetes. His body was found in the sump on Aug. 29, 2018.

Singas said that all of the attackers are alleged members of the Downtown Criminals clique of MS-13.

Co-defendant Edar Ventura was sentenced to 32 years to life in April after pleading guilty to two counts of murder, and related charges, for the deaths of Rivas-Majano and Alexon Moya.