Thursday, October 1, 2026
Two alleged male members of the MS-13 Hempstead Locos Salvatruchas clique were each sentenced to 12 years in prison Thursday for their roles in two violent attacks in Hempstead and Uniondale that left eight people injured, Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly announced.
Pedro Martinez Velasquez, 19, and Kelvin Martinez, 19, pleaded guilty in February before Judge Joy Watson to second-degree conspiracy, attempted second-degree murder and second-degree assault. Each was also sentenced to five years of post-release supervision.
According to prosecutors, the pair participated in a knife and machete attack on six men playing soccer at Kennedy Memorial Park in Hempstead in October 2024, and a second attack involving two men outside the Super Laundromat in Uniondale in December 2024.
My office has worked for years to eradicate MS-13 violence from our communities, taking out top leadership and putting gang members behind bars. Today, two more members of the Hempstead Locos Salvatruchas will join them in prison for participating in a series of brutal knife and machete attacks in public spaces that seriously injured eight people,” Donnelly said in a statement on Thursday.
“We will never allow MS-13 to take hold of our communities. Working with our law enforcement partners, we will continue to stamp out this vicious gang and protect Nassau County residents.”
Prosecutors said Velasquez, Martinez and several indicted co-conspirators allegedly jumped over a fence surrounding the soccer field at Kennedy Memorial Park and approached the victims, who were playing soccer.
The defendants allegedly punched and kicked the victims before Martinez pulled a knife from his pocket and stabbed one man in the chest, while Velasquez struck another victim in the left forearm with a machete.
The six victims, ranging in age from 20 to 51, suffered multiple injuries, prosecutors said, including stab wounds, severe internal injuries and a deep machete laceration.
Authorities said the defendants fled in a co-conspirator’s vehicle after the attack, and a court-authorized search recovered a knife with an eagle-shaped handle bearing the letters “MS.”
Less than two months later, prosecutors said, Velasquez, Martinez and other indicted co-conspirators attacked two victims parked outside the Super Laundromat in Uniondale using white pipes and a machete.
Surveillance video allegedly showed Martinez kicking one victim as he attempted to flee and restraining him while another alleged MS-13 member repeatedly struck him with a machete.
Prosecutors said the attackers identified themselves as MS-13 members and threatened to kill the victims.
One victim suffered multiple machete wounds, while the second victim was struck with a white pipe and sustained a deep laceration to his forehead and cuts to his body.
Police located both defendants a few blocks from the laundromat shortly after the attack and placed them under arrest, according to the district attorney’s office.
The case was prosecuted by Paula Cajdler, chief of the Firearms Suppression and Intelligence Unit in the Narcotics, Firearms and Gangs Bureau.
