by Ran
Alberto Geddis Martinez was born June 8, 1966 and grew up in New York City's Spanish Harlem, a predominantly Puerto Rican neighborhood located in Manhattan.
Martinez became involved in the drug trade in 1980, selling narcotics hand-to-hand on a street corner. He eventually met burgeoning cocaine kingpin and fellow Harlemite Azie Faison Jr. at Harlem's historic Rucker Park and began dealing drugs for him after asking for a job. During a shopping trip to purchase a Volvo for his mother, Faison noticed Martinez admiring an Isuzu Impulse on the showroom floor and immediately bought the $18,000 vehicle for him. Faison's childhood friend, Richard "Rich" Porter, who'd served a year in prison following drug and weapons convictions in 1984, reconnected with the former once he was released.
In 1986, Faison, Porter and Martinez sold upwards of five kilograms of cocaine per day in $10 increments. By year's end, the trio had established storefronts from which they continued their business, making in excess of $100,000 per week. Faison, in particular, opened an arcade, "The Jukebox", on Harlem's 145th Street. The three made so much money during this period that Porter reportedly never wore the same outfit twice and Martinez and Porter purchased matching Porsche 944s.
Following the 1989 arrest of Washington, D.C.-based drug-trafficker Rayful Edmond, Martinez relocated to the area in order to take advantage of the vacuum left in the former's absence. After establishing a foothold in the city with the help of his enforcer, Wayne Anthony Perry, Martinez reportedly sold up to 30 kilograms of cocaine per day.
In 1989, Martinez was indicted on narcotics charges. While Martinez himself was absent, multiple witnesses testified that he supplied crack-cocaine during the subsequent trial. Both Nathaniel Watkins and Sherrille Gilbert were convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
On Janurary 3, 1990, Rich Porter was murdered in his native Harlem. He suffered several gunshots to the head and chest and was found in the bushes in Orchard Beach Park with $2,239 in cash in his pockets. He was last seen driving his 1989 black Nissan coupe.
Porter had been targeted for extortion in 1989 when his younger brother Donnell was abducted while on his way to his school, P.S. 92, on December 5. The kidnappers demanded $500,000 ransom for 12-year-old Donnell's safe return by telephone. When Porter insisted that he didn't have the half million dollars the kidnappers lowered the ransom to $350,000. On Dec. 6 the abductors directed the family to a nearby McDonald's restaurant located at West 125th Street and Broadway, where they found a coffee cup containing Donnell's index finger, two of his rings and an audio cassette in the men's bathroom. According to police, the cassette tape contained a recording of Donnell pleading to his older brother Rich to pay the ransom, stating, "They cutted my finger off...Please help me...Get the money. I love you, Mommy." Porter's sister Pat contacted the FBI against his wishes and was directed to the NYPD, who placed taps on the family's phone lines. On Dec. 10, a local boy delivered a note to the family's West 132nd Street apartment in Harlem given to him by an unknown woman stating that Donnell was badly in need of medical attention.
On July 17, 1990, D.C.-based drug kingpin Michael "Fray" Salters was shot to death at the behest of Martinez and Perry. The pair had allegedly paid Michael Anthony Jackson a half-kilogram of cocaine, a 9mm handgun and $9,000 cash to kill Salter because they'd learned that he'd planned to murder Martinez.
On November 7, 1991, Martinez was apprehended by FBI agents and Washington, D.C. police shortly after 12 a.m. while driving through Southeast Washington.
On December 19, 1991, Martinez and four others were indicted in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia. Martinez's charges included conspiracy, weapons violations, money laundering and operating a continuing drug enterprise. He was also charged with 14 counts of murder. U.S. Attorney Richard Cullen described Martinez's organization as a narcotics network that spanned from New York City to Fredericksburg, Virginia. The group was estimated to have transported in excess of 500 kilograms of cocaine into Washington, D.C.
The other defendants included: Natasha Roland Martinez, David Mark Armstrong, Kevin Jerome Dockett and Ronnie Earl Melton. Armstrong, whose charges included money laundering and conspiracy, had been apprehended in Washington after FBI agents rammed the late model BMW that he was driving at the time of his arrest. Earlier in the day, Armstrong eluded federal agents who gave chase by driving in excess of 100 mph. He was placed into custody at approximately 11 a.m. following the intentional collision.
Martinez agreed to cooperate with prosecutors, which included detailing his operation and confessing to 14 murders. He also disclosed that Perry murdered Salters; D.C.-based trafficker and former Martinez lieutenant Garrett "Gary" Terrell; and sex-worker and potential witness Evelyn Carter. Martinez also confessed to shooting Porter to death in Harlem with an accomplice and later carrying the body to City Island in the Bronx, where it was found at 12:50 am the next morning. He told law enforcement that the murder was the result of a business dispute between the two. Martinez alleged that Porter had routinely overcharged him from $3,000-$5,000 per kilo of cocaine that he supplied him. Because Porter was no longer around to raise the ransom demand, his younger brother Donnell was murdered by his kidnappers. On January 28, Donnell Porter's body was found in City Island, less than a mile from where Rich's body was discovered. The corpse was found inside 14 black plastic garbage bags. Martinez was subsequently sentenced to a 35-year federal prison term and entered the witness protection program.
On March 5, 1993, Perry, Michael Anthony Jackson and Tyrone LaSalle Price were indicted on 27 counts in federal court, including robbery, kidnapping, retaliating against a witness, racketeering conspiracy, conspiracy to distribute crack-cocaine, and committing nine murders in furtherance of a continuing criminal enterprise. Consequently, Perry became the first person to face the death penalty in Washington, D.C. since 1971. Perry, in turn, agreed to a plea deal which included confessing to five murders in exchange for leniency during sentencing. He revealed that he shot the Brooklyn-based Benson as he was in the act of shaking Martinez's hand because he had allegedly slapped the latter's wife previously. Perry recounted shooting Carter in the head as she exited DAR Constitution Hall, near the White House, following a Keith Sweat concert, because he feared that she'd provide law enforcement with evidence that he'd murdered Salter. Perry also admitted to killing Terrell, Yolanda Burley and Alveta Hopkins but declined to provide information on anyone else's crimes. He was sentenced to a term of life in prison without parole. Days later, Price pleaded guilty to a single count of retaliating against a federal witness and two counts of second-degree murder.
Martinez was released from supermax federal prison in Colorado in 2015 and moved to Lewiston, Maine, living in a three-bedroom, first-floor apartment under the name Abraham Rodriquez. After finding employment with Pepsi as a warehouse worker and a Walmart distribution center employee, Martinez started a business out of his 169 College Street apartment, 5 Star Construction Cleanup, in 2017. He owned a luxury sedan, a Harley-Davidson and a 2017 Dodge Ram pickup truck. Martinez made frequent trips to New York City in order to visit his mother (who died in 2020) and sister, both of whom had been diagnosed with cancer in the following years. He also visited other cities, including Boston and Atlanta, in order to attend parties. In July of 2021, Martinez reportedly moved to New Jersey and spent much of his time in his native New York.
On October 31, 2021, at approximately 3:20 am, Martinez was murdered while driving through Harlem. After being shot six times through the driver's side window, he rear-ended the vehicle in front of his Ram pickup truck on Frederick Douglass Blvd before managing to drive four blocks and hitting three parked cars near West 147th Street. Martinez, who was still alive when police arrived, had been grazed on the chin and sustained gunshots to his arm and chest. He succumbed to his wounds at Harlem Hospital, where he'd been transported for treatment.
On February 28, 2022, 27-year-old Harlem-resident Shakeem Parker was arrested by the NYPD in connection to the shooting and later charged with weapons violations and Martinez's murder. Parker was being held at Rikers Island on an unrelated gun possession charge at the time of his arrest. According to investigators, he'd been caught on surveillance cameras arriving in Manhattan from the Bronx before meeting his brother at a deli near 147th Street and 7th Avenue. Parker is then alleged to have walked over to Martinez's vehicle and fired through the window before exiting via the Harlem River Houses and returning to the Bronx by cab. Cellphone data confirmed his whereabouts the night of Martinez's killing.
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| Stan, Rich Porter and Alpo |
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