Alberto "Alpo" Martinez built a drug organization in Harlem in the 1980s and extended it to Washington, D.C. He was arrested in 1991 and faced federal charges that included conspiracy to commit murder and 14 counts of murder. He confessed to 14 murders, among them the killing of his childhood friend and former partner Rich Porter in January 1990. In return for his evidence against former associates he avoided a possible death sentence and received 35 years. He left prison in 2015, entered the federal witness-protection program, and lived for several years in Lewiston, Maine. He was killed in Harlem on October 31, 2021, at the age of 55.
Martinez was born on June 8, 1966, and grew up in East Harlem. He began dealing drugs as a young teenager and rose to become one of the largest dealers in the city. In the late 1980s, during the crack epidemic, he worked alongside other Harlem dealers, among them Rich Porter. Together they dealt in the city's drug trade, and their story later formed the basis of the 2002 film Paid in Full, in which an actor played a character modeled on Martinez.
He did not stay in New York. He expanded his network to other cities, most of all Washington, D.C. In the District he used Wayne "Silk" Perry as his enforcer, and Perry later stood trial on the evidence Martinez gave.
The drug organization that Martinez led ran between New York and the capital from the late 1980s. He and several co-defendants were indicted in Washington on federal drug trafficking charges, conspiracy to commit murder and 14 counts of murder. Prosecutors in a separate case later said that he had shipped more than 1,200 pounds of drugs to the District.
Martinez and Rich Porter had grown up together in Harlem and had become partners in the drug trade. By his own account, given in a prison interview and later in documentary videos made after his release, Martinez killed Porter in January 1990, after a dispute in the drug trade.
The two men's partnership and its collapse were the center of Paid in Full, in which a character named Mitch was based on Porter.
Martinez was a fugitive for about two years before his arrest. He was taken into custody in November 1991, at the age of 25, in Washington. He faced the possibility of a death sentence or life without parole.
After his arrest Martinez agreed to cooperate. He confessed to the 14 murders and gave evidence against members of his own organization, rivals and associates in both Washington and New York. His testimony against Wayne Perry led to Perry receiving five consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole. His evidence helped lead to many of the associates he named receiving life sentences.
In exchange for his cooperation he received a sentence of 35 years in federal prison, under an agreement with federal prosecutors reached in the years after his 1991 arrest.
After his arrest Martinez faced the possibility of the federal death penalty or life without parole. By confessing and testifying he exchanged that exposure for a fixed term of 35 years, and prosecutors gained evidence against a larger group of defendants. He spent almost a quarter-century in federal custody before his release in 2015.
Martinez was released in 2015 and entered the federal witness-protection program. He was given a new identity and lived in Lewiston, Maine, for more than five years. In Lewiston he worked at a soft-drink distribution warehouse and a retail distribution center, then moved into construction work and drove commercial trucks. He later formed a small debris-removal company.
He made frequent trips to New York and Boston. By 2019 he was back in Harlem, appearing in videos in which he spoke about his past, and it is unclear whether he was still in the witness-protection program when he died. About a month before his death he left Lewiston and returned to New York. He was working on an autobiography.
Martinez was killed in Harlem on Sunday, October 31, 2021. He was 55.
At first the police did not know who he was, because the identification he carried was in his witness-protection name. The police commissioner called the investigation "very preliminary" and said detectives were looking at all aspects of what the motive might be, including his past.
In late February 2022, detectives announced that they had charged a 27-year-old man with the killing. He was charged with murder and one further offense, and he was already in custody on a separate case at the time. He pleaded not guilty. The trial was set for April 2024, then delayed to May at the earliest. A jury trial began in the Criminal Court of the City of New York before Judge Daniel Conviser, with jury selection in early June. The man, then 30, was acquitted in the summer of 2024 and released.
The 14 murders rest on Martinez's own confession and the charges brought in Washington; the form of the federal disposition, by plea or by verdict on each count, has not been established. His account of the Porter killing was given years later, in a prison interview and in videos made after his release.
The man charged with killing Martinez was acquitted, and no other person has been charged.
June 8, 1966: Alberto Martinez is born in East Harlem, New York.
1980s: Martinez rises in the Harlem drug trade alongside Rich Porter, and extends his organization to Washington, D.C.
January 1990: Martinez kills Rich Porter, by his own later account.
November 1991: Martinez is arrested after about two years as a fugitive and charged with federal drug offenses, conspiracy to commit murder and 14 counts of murder.
1990s: Martinez cooperates and testifies against Wayne Perry and others; he receives a 35-year sentence.
2015: Martinez is released and enters the federal witness-protection program.
2015 to 2021: He lives in Lewiston, Maine, under a new identity.
Autumn 2021: He returns to New York.
October 31, 2021: Martinez is killed in Harlem, aged 55.
February 28, 2022: Police announce a murder charge against a 27-year-old man.
2024: The man charged with the killing is acquitted by a jury and released.