Man sentenced to 27 years in prison for MS-13 killing

A federal judge sentenced an MS-13 member to 27 years in prison for his role in the 2015 fatal shooting of a Central Islip teenager he believed belonged to a rival gang.

U.S. District Judge Joseph F. Bianco said William Castellanos, 21, also of Central Islip, deserved the sentence because of the brutal nature of the killing. The bullet-pocked body of Jonathan Cardona-Hernandez, 16, was found on a Central Islip street early on the morning of June 30, 2015, authorities said.

In his Central Islip courtroom, Bianco called the slaying  “a particularly ruthless murder” because Castellanos and other MS-13 members had invited Cardona-Hernandez to socialize with them and the victim had no idea his life was in danger. The judge said he hoped the sentence would send the message that MS-13’s brand of brutality would not be tolerated on Long Island.

“This type of violence poses an enormous threat to society,” Bianco said.

Castellanos pleaded guilty to causing the death of Cardona-Henandez through the use of firearms on Feb. 14, 2018.

Prosecutors from the Eastern District of New York said Castellanos, known as “Dizzy” or “Satanico,” and a member of the Central-Islip-based Karlington Locos Salvatruchas clique of MS-13, and two other members of the gang, targeted Cardona-Hernandez because they suspected he was associated with a rival gang known as L-Block.

The MS-13 members invited Cardona-Hernandez to hang out on June 30, 2015, prosecutors said. Cardona-Hernandez went for a drive with the gang members and when they stopped and got out of the car, Castellanos approached from behind and shot the teenager multiple times with a 9mm handgun, prosecutors said. Castellanos' co-conspirators then took turns shooting Cardona-Hernandez with a second 9mm handgun.  At least 10 bullets struck Cardona-Hernandez. His body was found later that day on Nicoll Avenue, about two miles north of the courthouse where Bianco sentenced Castellanos Thursday.

The gunmen left the scene of the crime, prosecutors said, and met with an MS-13 leader and telephoned gang members in El Salvador to notify them the murder had been successfully carried out.

Castellanos was a leader of the KLS clique in May 2016 when the FBI’s Long Island Gang Task Force arrested him in connection with the killing, prosecutors said.

In court, Castellanos apologized to Cardona-Hernandez’s relatives and to his own family for the pain he caused them. Cardona-Hernandez’s family did not attend Thursday’s sentencing hearing and a victim-impact statement was not read in court. Castellano’s family sobbed and wiped away tears during the hearing but declined to comment afterwards.

Bianco said he could have sentenced Castellanos to 30 years or more based on sentencing guidelines but he agreed with defense attorney Joseph Kilada of Garden City that the gang member deserved leniency because he expressed remorse for the killing.

The lengthy prison term was well-deserved, said Richard P. Donoghue, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District.

“Castellanos brutally murdered Jonathan Cardona-Hernandez simply because he believed Cardona-Hernandez was a member of a rival gang,” Donoghue said in a statement. “With today’s sentence, Castellanos will pay for this senseless crime.”