Thursday, October 1, 2026
Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly announced that a Hempstead man pleaded guilty ahead of trial to multiple charges in connection with a series of incidents between 2021 and 2024.
On March 16, Elvin Maradiaga Ortiz, 35, pleaded guilty Monday before Judge Howard Sturim to burglary, robbery, criminal sale of a controlled substance, manslaughter, leaving the scene of an incident resulting in death, driving while intoxicated, assault and petit larceny. He was arrested March 21, 2024, by members of the Nassau County Police Department.
"From violent robberies to the alcohol-fueled crash that killed his own passenger, this defendant demonstrated a consistent disregard for human life," Donnelly said in a news release. "He left a dying victim behind in an attempt to escape responsibility for his violent past, but his own DNA ultimately exposed the truth."
According to Donnelly, prosecutors said that early on the morning of Feb. 24, 2024, Ortiz was driving a 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee in Uniondale while intoxicated with two passengers in the vehicle; he drove off the roadway, struck a pole and overturned the vehicle. He then fled on foot, leaving one passenger, 35-year-old Alex Banegas Figueroa, unconscious in the back seat.
Figueroa was taken to Nassau University Medical Center and died March 1, 2024.
Investigators determined Ortiz had consumed multiple alcoholic beverages at a local bar preceding the crash.
After obtaining a DNA sample from Ortiz, prosecutors linked him to evidence from other crime scenes, also using evidence from his GPS.
On Aug. 5, 2021, authorities said Ortiz and two others broke into an apartment in Elmont and stole a safe containing $20,000. One of the masked men threatened to shoot the homeowner.
Video footage from local homes captured three men arriving at the property, fleeing with a large box and entering a vehicle. Police later recovered gloves, a face mask and a T-shirt near that location, and DNA from the mask was matched to Ortiz, according to prosecutors. Another incident followed shortly after. Aug. 12, 2021, Ortiz stole jewelry, including watches, a diamond engagement ring and a white gold necklace from an apartment in Floral Park.
In 2023, Ortiz and others broke into a home in West Hempstead around 4 a.m., armed with weapons, prosecutors said. The group forced the victim into a bedroom, held him at gunpoint and stole gold jewelry. The victim suffered injuries to his forehead, arms and neck. Again, subsequent investigation found video footage of Ortiz entering a suspicious vehicle.
Ortiz was wearing a GPS ankle monitor at the time of these crimes, following a 2020 arrest by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which placed him at each of the crime scenes.
"The extensive investigation and relentless work of our prosecutors and law enforcement partners built a powerful case that led to this guilty plea," Donnelly said in a statement. "No outcome can undo the loss suffered by the victims and their families, but this result removes a dangerous criminal from our streets."
Additionally, prosecutors also said Ortiz sold cocaine to another individual in Hempstead in 2019.
Ortiz is expected to be sentenced May 18, 2026, to 19 years in prison. Prosecutors had recommended a 25-year sentence.
