MINEOLA, N.Y. — A leader of the Hempstead Locos Salvatruchas MS-13 gang was sentenced to 17 years in prison Tuesday for two 2024 attacks in which eight victims were targeted with knives, a machete and other weapons in Hempstead and Uniondale, according to the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office.
Elias Serrano Bonilla, 22, pleaded guilty July 2 before Judge Joy Watson to second-degree attempted murder, second-degree conspiracy and second-degree assault.
Bonilla was sentenced Aug. 18 to 17 years in prison followed by five years of post-release supervision.
The first attack occurred at about 4:25 p.m. Oct. 20, 2024, as six victims were playing soccer at Kennedy Memorial Park in Hempstead, prosecutors said.
Surveillance video showed Bonilla walking along the fence line of the soccer field and approaching the victims before he and several co-conspirators began kicking and punching them, according to prosecutors.
Pedro Martinez Velasquez struck one victim in the left forearm with a machete, while Kelvin Martinez stabbed another victim in the chest with a knife, prosecutors said.
The six victims ranged in age from 20 to 51. One was stabbed in the left shoulder, another was stabbed in the rib cage and required surgery to remove his gallbladder and repair injuries to his diaphragm and liver, and another suffered a deep laceration to his left forearm from the machete, according to the district attorney’s office.
Bonilla, Velasquez and Martinez fled in another co-conspirator’s vehicle, prosecutors said. A court-authorized search of the vehicle later uncovered a knife with an eagle-shaped handle and the letters “MS” etched into it.
Less than two months later, at about 8:48 p.m. Dec. 18, 2024, prosecutors said Bonilla, Velasquez and Martinez attacked two more victims outside the Super Laundromat in Uniondale.
Surveillance video showed Bonilla punching one victim as he exited the front passenger seat of a vehicle, prosecutors said.
Martinez was seen kicking another victim in the chest as the victim tried to run, then holding him while another MS-13 gang member repeatedly struck him with a machete, according to the district attorney’s office.
Prosecutors said the attackers identified themselves as MS-13 members and threatened to kill the victims.
One victim suffered a deep laceration to his left forearm and multiple cuts to his back after being struck several times with the machete. The other was struck with a white pipe and suffered a deep cut to his forehead and multiple cuts to his body.
Prosecutors described Bonilla as a “homeboy,” or leader, within the Hempstead Locos Salvatruchas gang.
Bonilla was arrested Aug. 8, 2025, at his home in East Meadow by Nassau County police and the FBI.
Martinez and Velasquez were each sentenced April 30, 2026, to 12 years in prison followed by five years of post-release supervision.
Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly said her office remains focused on prosecuting MS-13 members responsible for violence in Nassau County.
The case was prosecuted by Deputy Bureau Chief Paula Cajdler of the Nassau County District Attorney’s Narcotics, Firearms and Gangs Bureau.
