A Hempstead man pleaded guilty on the eve of trial to charges stemming from multiple indictments, including burglary and robbery charges for several incidents in 2021 and 2023 and a separate manslaughter charge for a February 2024 DWI crash that killed one of his passengers.
On February 24, 2024, at approximately 5:10 a.m., Elvin Maradiaga Ortiz, was driving a 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee westbound on Jerusalem Avenue in Uniondale while intoxicated. Maradiaga Ortiz had two passengers in his vehicle.
While traveling along Jerusalem Avenue, Maradiaga Ortiz drove off the roadway, causing the vehicle to strike a pole and flip over. After the collision, the defendant fled the scene on foot, leaving his backseat passenger, 35-year-old Alex Banegas Figueroa, unconscious. Figueroa was transported to Nassau University Medical Center after the crash and was pronounced dead one week later on March 1, 2024.
A subsequent investigation revealed that Maradiaga Ortiz drank multiple alcoholic beverages over the course of several hours at a local bar prior to the collision.
During the investigation into the fatal crash, prosecutors connected Maradiaga Ortiz to several previously committed crimes using a DNA sample, belonging to the defendant, recovered from the scene and GPS evidence.
On August 5, 2021, Maradiaga Ortiz broke into a second-floor apartment in a home in Elmont and stole a safe containing $20,000 from a bedroom closet. The homeowner, who was asleep inside another part of the house, heard noises coming from the apartment and the back of the house. Upon investigation, he found three men, including the defendant, wearing dark clothes, hoodies, and face masks.
One of the men threatened to shoot the homeowner if he moved. The victim went back inside of the home, and the men ran off.
Police reviewed video footage from the front and backyard of the home that showed three men wearing masks arriving at the property and then running away with a large box.
Video footage from a home a block over from the crime scene captured the men entering a vehicle. Police later recovered a pair of gloves, a face mask and a t-shirt in front of that residence. Prosecutors subsequently matched Maradiaga Ortiz’ DNA to a DNA sample found on the mask recovered at that location.
In another incident, on August 12, 2021, the defendant stole jewelry from an apartment in Floral Park, including three watches, a diamond engagement ring and a white gold necklace.
The investigation also revealed that in 2023, the defendant broke into a West Hempstead home around 4:00 a.m. The victim opened his bedroom door to go to the bathroom and saw Ortiz and others dressed in black and wearing masks. The individuals, armed with weapons, pushed the victim back into the bedroom and threw him to the floor. The victim was held at gunpoint as they ripped three gold necklaces from the victim’s neck and a gold bracelet from his wrist. As a result of the robbery, the victim sustained injuries to his forehead, arms and the back of his neck.
An extensive video search uncovered footage at the end of the street that showed three men getting out of a dark-colored sedan and additional videos backtracked the sedan to Hempstead where the defendant was seen getting into the vehicle.
At the time of the crimes in 2021, 2023, and 2024, Maradiaga Ortiz had been wearing an ankle monitoring device that tracked his location following an arrest by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement in 2020. GPS records corroborated the defendant’s presence at each of the scenes.
The investigation also revealed that in 2019, Maradiaga Ortiz sold cocaine to another individual in Hempstead.
The defendant was arrested by members of the Nassau County Police Department on March 21, 2024.
Maradiaga Ortiz, 35, pleaded guilty on March 16 before Judge Howard Sturim to Burglary in the First Degree and Robbery in the First Degree (both Class B violent felonies); Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree (a Class B felony); Manslaughter in the Second Degree (a Class C felony); Leaving the Scene of an Incident Resulting in Death (a Class D felony); Driving While Intoxicated (an unclassified misdemeanor); and Assault in the Third Degree and Petit Larceny (both Class A misdemeanors).
Ortiz is expected to be sentenced to 19 years in prison on May 18, 2026. The Nassau County District Attorney’s Office recommended a sentence of 25 years in prison.
“From violent robberies to the alcohol-fueled crash that killed his own passenger, this defendant demonstrated a consistent disregard for human life,” said Nassau DA Anne Donnelly. “He left a dying victim behind in an attempt to escape responsibility for his violent past, but his own DNA ultimately exposed the truth. The extensive investigation and relentless work of our prosecutors and law enforcement partners built a powerful case that led to this guilty plea. No outcome can undo the loss suffered by the victims and their families, but this result removes a dangerous criminal from our streets.”