Two reputed Latin Kings members will be spending many years behind bars for their roles in a violent stabbing outside a Jackson Heights bar back in October 2016.
Michael Aragundi, 21, of Jamaica was convicted along with two associates back in April on first-degree gang assault, first- and second-degree robbery and first- and second-degree assault in the violent attack on a 24-year-old man outside the El Paisa Bar on Northern Boulevard on the morning of Oct. 29, 2016. The target, prosecutors said, was a reputed gang rival.
During a June 6 hearing in Queens Criminal Court, Aragundi was sentenced to serve 10 years behind bars, followed by five years’ post-release supervision.
The previous day, June 5, the gang’s alleged leader who ordered the attack learned his fate. Luis Minchala, 28, of Jackson Heights — who skipped town before the April verdict against him was rendered, but was later apprehended — was sentenced on June 5 to serve 15 years in prison, followed by five years’ probation.
“This was a senseless act of brutality,” acting Queens District Attorney John Ryan said. “The defendants jumped a man on the street, beat and stabbed him repeatedly. The victim recovered from the injuries, but to this day, he still has extensive nerve damage to his right arm.”
Law enforcement sources said the attack occurred just after 1 a.m. on Oct. 29, 2016 outside El Paisa, which is located at 87-05 Northern Blvd.
According to the charges, Aragundi and Luis Mayancela, 23, of Astoria joined a group of fellow gang members in cornering and assaulting the 24-year-old man outside the bar. They repeatedly punched and stabbed the man. At one point, one of the attackers grabbed hold of the man’s cane and used it against him.
Prosecutors said that Minchala — who ordered the attack — stood by and watched it happen.
When it was over, police noted, the victim was left lying in the street with 11 stab wounds. Paramedics rushed him to a local hospital for treatment of his injuries.
Mayancela was sentenced in May to serve nine years in prison. Two others who pleaded guilty for their involvement in the attack — Jonathan Duy and Wilson Matute — are now serving five-year prison sentences.
