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Alleged Long Island Gang Member Pleads Guilty To 2016 Murder

Police car
Scott Davidson
/
WSHU

An MS-13 gang member has pled guilty to charges related to a 2016 murder of a possible rival gang member on Long Island.

Prosecutors said Nelson Argueta-Quintanilla and other MS-13 gang members lured Oscar Acosta into the woods behind a Brentwood elementary school.

Acosta was believed to be a member of the rival 18th Street gang. He was beaten and slashed to death with a machete. His body was dumped in a shallow grave near an abandoned psychiatric hospital.

Argueta-Quintanilla also pleaded guilty for shooting up a Brentwood home where alleged rival gang members lived. No one was injured.

A native Long Islander, J.D. is WSHU's managing editor. He also hosts the climate podcast Higher Ground. J.D. reports for public radio stations across the Northeast, is a journalism educator and proud SPJ member.