Jason Cabral, Murder, New York 2004

A 37-year-old man has been sentenced to 37 years in prison for his role in the 2004 murders of two 17-year-old rival gang members on Long Island.

Jason Cabral, also known as ‘J-Live,’ was sentenced in federal court in Central Islip, New York, to 37 years to be followed by five years of supervised release for his guilty plea to the murders of Anthony Marcano and Fabian Mestres.

The sentence was announced by Loretta E. Lynch, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, George Venizelos, Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), and William J. Bratton, Commissioner, New York City Police Department (NYPD).

Cabral, the leader of a Long Island chapter of the Ñetas street gang, targeted Marcano because of his affiliation with a rival gang, the Latin Kings. On August 10, 2004, Cabral ordered his fellow gang members to rob and kill 17-year-old Marcano.

As part of the plan, the defendant and his co-conspirators lured Marcano to a house in Brentwood. Marcano arrived at that house with 17-year-old Fabian Mestres, a fellow ‘Pee Wee’ member of the Latin Kings street gang. Once inside the house, the victims were restrained with duct tape and their drugs, money, and jewelry were stolen. The two victims were stuffed into the trunk of a car and driven to a warehouse in Queens where one of the defendant’s co-conspirators shot them with a shotgun.

The government’s case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Nicole Boeckmann and Christopher C. Caffarone.

Cabral, 37, is from Riverview, Florida. The defendant was found guilty of murder and other charges related to the double homicide.

The case was investigated by the FBI and the NYPD. ‘This investigation illustrates the unwavering commitment of the law enforcement community who swore to protect and serve the people of this city from criminals like Jason Cabral,’ Police Commissioner William J. Bratton said.

‘Ten years ago Jason Cabral ordered the robbery and murder of two 17-year-old young men. His minions carried out that order, binding the victims, wiping their bodies of forensic evidence, stuffing them into the trunk of a car and driving them to their executions,’ United States Attorney Lynch stated. ‘For eight years Cabral thought he had outsmarted law enforcement and gotten away with murder. From one slender lead, and with the tenacity of the FBI and NYPD, these horrific murders were solved and the killers brought to justice.’

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