Two alleged members of the international criminal organization Tren de Aragua have pleaded guilty to multiple charges in the robbery and shooting of a woman walking home from work in Hempstead in May 2024, Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said.
Frederick Morillo Chavez pleaded guilty on Monday, Feb. 2, to robbery and attempted assault. He is expected to be sentenced on March 16 to eight years in prison and five years post-release supervision, Donnelly said.
Bernardo Raul Castro Mata pleaded guilty on Aug. 14, 2025, to attempted murder, robbery and criminal possession of a weapon. He was sentenced in October 2025 to 15 years in prison and five years post-release supervision, the DA said.
Both are alleged members of the international criminal organization Tren de Aragua.
On May 22, 2024, a woman was coming home from work and got off a bus near a parking lot on Front Street in Hempstead, the DA said.
The woman was walking through the parking lot when Morillo Chavez and Castro Mata came up behind her on a moped, Donnelly said. The victim crossed through the parking lot and made her way down the sidewalk when the two men circled back around on their moped and followed her, Donnelly said.
Morillo Chavez and Castro Mata stopped the moped near the woman, when Castro Mata jumped off and pointed a gun at her and attempted to take her bags that contained multiple items, including AirPods, a debit card, portable chargers and an iPhone charger, Donnelly said.
Castro Mata and the woman struggled over one bag when she screamed and eventually let go. Castro Mata took the bag and brought it back to the moped, where Morillo Chavez was waiting, and then returned to the woman and grabbed her lunch bag, according to the DA.
When the woman would not let go, Castro Mata shot the victim in her right arm, leading her to drop her lunch bag, and Morillo Chavez sped off with Castro Mata and the victim’s two bags, Donnelly said.
Morillo Chavez was arrested on May 16, 2025, and Castro Mata was arrested on June 10, 2025, according to the DA.
Castro Mata had been incarcerated in New York City where he was held on charges brought by the Queens County District Attorney’s office in June 2024 of attempted murder in the first and second degrees related to a shooting of two NYPD officers, who attempted to pull him over on a moped on June 3, 2024, less than two weeks after the shooting in Hempstead.
Castro Mata was sentenced in the Queens County District Attorney’s case on June 10, 2025, to 28 years in prison.
