Elvin Madariaga Ortiz sentenced to 21 years in prison for 5-year crime spree, including DWI crash that killed Alex Banegas Figueroa

A Nassau judge ended the 5-year crime spree of a former Hempstead man by sentencing him to 21 years in prison on Tuesday for witness intimidation, drug dealing, a series of home-invasion robberies and a drunk-driving accident that killed a friend.

During most of his crimes, Elvin Maradiaga Ortiz, 36, of Honduras, wore a GPS ankle monitor, placed on him by Immigration and Customs Enforcement after a 2020 arrest for immigration violations.

Nassau authorities caught up to him after an early morning crash in February 2024 in Uniondale that killed his friend, Alex Banegas Figueroa, 35, who rode in the passenger seat of Ortiz’s 2104 Jeep Grand Cherokee, according to court records.

Ortiz had been drinking heavily at a local bars and was heading west on Jerusalem Avenue when he drove off the road and hit a pole, flipping the vehicle, officials said.

Instead of helping his friends, prosecutors said, he fled, leaving his friend mortally injured.

Emergency responders took Figueroa to Nassau University Medical Center where he died a week later on March 1, 2024.

Detectives were able to track Ortiz down by the ankle monitor. He was charged with second-degree manslaughter, leaving the scene of an accident and drunken driving.

Using DNA collected during the drunk driving investigation, detectives tied Ortiz to other crimes.

Beginning on Aug. 5, 2021, he and a group of men broke into a second-floor apartment in Elmont and were carrying away a safe containing $20,000 when the owner woke up and confronted the men, according to prosecutors.

One of the burglars threatened to shoot the man, causing him to retreat while the crew made off with his money, authorities said.

Surveillance cameras caught the getaway and police found a T-shirt and gloves with DNA that matched Ortiz.

A week later, on Aug. 12, 2021, prosecutors said that Ortiz stole a white gold necklace, a diamond engagement ring and three watches from an apartment in Floral Park.

About two years later, Ortiz and a group of men armed with guns and baseball bats broke into a West Hempstead house around 4 a.m., prosecutors said.

The resident stumbled on the crew on his way to the bathroom. They shoved him to the floor in his bedroom at gunpoint and snatched three gold necklaces from his neck and a bracelet from his wrist, authorities said. Nassau prosecutor Katie Zizza said children were asleep in the next room during the robbery.

In March, Ortiz, who was being held in the Nassau County jail, pleaded guilty to drug dealing, the home invasions and the fatal drunk driving accident in exchange for a 19-year prison term.

As he was being taken back to the detention center, Ortiz threatened to kill a woman, a witness to his crimes, if she cooperated with authorities, according to court testimony.

Prosecutors pushed to increase his prison time to 25 years, arguing that he had forfeited his reduced sentence by making the death threat.

“The defendant is not someone with remorse; he’s a self serving criminal who puts himself before everyone else,” Zizza said. “The benefit that he received was completely undeserved.”

Defense attorney Christopher Devane countered that his client was remorseful and had lashed out in a moment of anger.

“This was a man who made that statement out of frustration in the transport van, nothing further,” the lawyer said. “On the day that he took the plea, was one of the lowest days of his life.”

He said his client will likely be deported.

Zizza read aloud a letter to the court from Figueroa’s family in which they said they forgave Ortiz for the accident that killed their loved one.

Ortiz spoke briefly, apologizing to Figueroa's family and expressing regret for his behavior.

“I was influenced by drugs and by bad company,” he said. “From all this process that I have been though, I know that drugs and alcohol bring no good.”

Supreme Court Justice Howard Sturim appeared skeptical of Ortiz’s comments.

“You make a lot of excuses here, I don’t think that drugs and alcohol caused you to intimidate a witness. That is criminal thinking,” he said. "Your victims are all over the place, including your family. You’ve made it hard for your children to grow up because they don’t have a father to help them and guide them as they grow up.”