Alberto Geddis Martinez (born June 8, 1966), better known as Alpo Martinez, or Alpo for short, is an American drug dealer of Puerto Rican descent from Harlem, New York City. He rose to fame in the mid-1980s. In addition to New York, Martinez also expanded his drug trade to other cities, especially Washington, DC.
Martinez was released in 2015 and also served 35 years in prison on 14 counts of murder at ADX Florence, a federal super prison in Fremont County, Colorado. He was released after testifying to his former colleague and has been living under the US Witness Protection Program ever since.
Since the story of the legendary Harlem liar Alberto “Alpo” Martinez was replayed in the cult classic film Paid In Full, those who were previously unfamiliar with this street legend have established a “love to hate” relationship with the character “Rico” . Camren representing Alpo.
At the end of the movie, Rico said that he would not report to anyone from Harlem, because when he returns home, “I will still be a king.” Martinez returned home from federal prison in 2015, after he was sentenced to 35 years in prison on drug charges, 14 counts of murder and conspiracy to murder. Most notably, he was accused of killing his former friend Rich Porter, another well-known Harlem gold sucker, who allegedly charged him a wholesale price of cocaine.
Martinez was born in East Harlem (also known as Spanish Harlem) in Upper Manhattan, New York City. He was one of two children raised by his single mother. He attended Roman Catholic School, Auto Mechanics High School and Julia Richmond High School before dropping out in the second grade. [Citation needed] Martinez started selling drugs in East Harlem at the age of 13.
When he met Azie Faison, a drug dealer in Harlem, Martinez began to move up the chain of dealers in Harlem, and eventually became one of the city’s largest drug dealers. Martinez later moved to Washington, DC to expand his business, where he quickly became involved in the city’s underworld and promoted his drug activities. He met Wayne “Silk” Perry, the notorious gangster and Washington, D.C. law enforcer, who later became his bodyguard and killer.
On January 3, 1990, Martinez and his co-conspirator Gary murdered Richport in the Bronx, New York. Porter had sold drugs with Martinez before. Martinez believes that Porter is blocking the drugs assigned to him and charging him excessive fees. Potter was lured into the car, shot in the head and several times in the body, resulting in his death. Martinez has apologized to the Potter family for this behavior.
