Latin King member gets decade in prison for brutal Jackson Heights beating

By Jonathan Sperling

The last defendant in the case of a man brutally beat outside of a Jackson Heights bar was sentenced to 10 years in prison Acting Queens District Attorney John Ryan said Thursday.

Michael Aragundi, of Jamaica, was one of five defendants involved in the beating and stabbing of the 24-year-old victim as he stood outside El Paisa Bar on Northern Boulevard in October 2016. As a result of the beating, the victim was left in the street bleeding from 11 stab wounds and continued to suffer ongoing pain and permanent nerve damage in his arm, according to court filings.

“This was a senseless act of brutality. 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,” Ryan said in a statement.

“Gang violence has no place in our neighborhoods,” he added.

The defendants pummeled the victim — reportedly a rival gang members — and stabbed him multiple times while also beating with his own cane, according to prosecutors. Luis Minchala, 28, one of the gang’s leaders, stood by and watched as the beating occurred, prosecutors said. Minchala was sentenced to 15 years in prison by Justice Stephanie Zaro on Wednesday.

In May, Zaro sentenced Luis Mayancela to nine years in prison. Two other co-defendants, Jonathan Duy and Wilson Matute, pleaded guilty in April to first-degree gang assault and were both sentenced to five years in prison.