Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas announced that an alleged MS-13 member has been arrested for the August 2017 machete murder of Carlos Rivas-Majano, whose body was found in a wooded area along the Meadowbrook Parkway in August 2018.
Luis Alejandro Varela, 21, also known as Felon, was arrested yesterday and pleaded not guilty today before Judge Angelo Deligatti to one count of Murder in the Second Degree (an A-I felony).
If convicted of the charge the defendant faces a potential maximum sentence of 25 years 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,” DA Singas said. “We will spare no resource in our effort to dismantle this violent street gang, which terrorizes our vulnerable immigrant communities.”
DA Singas said that on August 11, 2017, Carlos Rivas-Majano told a family member that he was on his way home from a deli in Uniondale and never returned home. Rivas-Majano, a perceived enemy of the gang, was lured into the woods near the Meadowbrook Parkway and Glen Curtiss Boulevard in Uniondale, where he was hacked and stabbed to death with machetes. The victim’s body was recovered in a sump on August 29, 2018. The assailants are alleged to be 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.
The cases against four co-defendants are pending. The investigation is ongoing.
The case was prosecuted by Deputy Chief Jared Rosenblatt of DA Singas’ Major Offense Bureau. The defendant is represented by Adrienne Hausch, Esq.
A criminal charge is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.