Ten Members of Allegedly Murderous Reading, PA Drug Trafficking Organization Charged in 27-Count Second Superseding Indictment
Defendants Now Face New Charges of Murder, Kidnapping & Conspiracy
READING, PA – United States Attorney William M. McSwain and Berks County District Attorney John T. Adams announced that ten individuals from Reading were charged by a Second Superseding Indictment with murder, kidnapping, drug distribution, and firearms offenses. At a press conference at the District Attorney’s Office, U.S. Attorney McSwain noted that these charges come about seven months after six of the same individuals were initially indicted on drug distribution and firearms offenses as part of a drug trafficking organization known as “Trinidad” operating in and around Reading. The additional offenses announced Monday relate to multiple homicides and kidnappings that occurred in 2017 and 2018, including a quadruple homicide that occurred on January 28, 2018.
The ten charged individuals are:
- Jesus Feliciano-Trinidad, a/k/a “Chewy,” a/k/a “Che,” 29;
- Yomar Velazquez-Figueroa, a/k/a “Negrito,” 21;
- Fitzgerald Daliot-Rios, a/k/a “Barber,” 29;
- Mariela Alvarado, a/k/a “Onyx,” 38;
- Dewayne Quinones, a/k/a “Hombre,” 25;
- Owen Malave-Medina, 22;
- Pedro Sanchez-Laporte, a/k/a “Javi,” 28;
- Lillian Garcia-Ortiz, a/k/a “Lilly,” 20;
- Angel Rivera-Silva, a/k/a “Estrellita,” 41; and
- Mayco Alvarez-Jackson, a/k/a “Pipon,” 22.
The charges stem from a years’ long investigation into the receipt, processing, and distribution of methamphetamine, heroin, fentanyl, cocaine, and crack cocaine by the defendants from June 2017 until March 21, 2018. The defendants are accused of using a number of buildings, residences, firearms and acts of violence to further their drug dealing efforts in and around the Reading area.
Included within the allegations of the Second Superseding Indictment are events in which various defendants conspired to shoot and kill Miguel Reyes on December 13, 2017; kidnap, shoot, and kill Hector Gonzalez-Rivera on January 24, 2018; and shoot and kill Jarlyn Lantigua-Tejada, Juan Rodriguez, Nelson Onofre, and Joshua Santos on January 28, 2018. The Second Superseding Indictment also alleges various defendants in this drug trafficking group conspired to shoot individuals on February 25, 2018 and February 26, 2018, and then conspired to commit another kidnapping on February 27, 2018.
“This has been a complex, ongoing investigation since I was here in Reading in March 2019 to announce the original charges against some of these same defendants,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain. “The current defendants now face some of the most serious, violent charges that exist under federal law. I want to commend District Attorney Adams for the strong partnership that exists between our Offices that made these charges possible. My Office is committed to working with the Berks County District Attorney’s Office and all of our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners to destroy violent drug gangs and keep the Reading community safe.”
“As charged, this organization created mayhem in the City of Reading,” said District Attorney Adams. “Through the cooperative efforts of my Office, the Reading Police and many of our Municipal, State and Federal partners, we have now dismantled a violent drug trafficking organization.”
“Violent drug gangs destroy communities,” said Michael T. Harpster, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division. “This superseding indictment sends the message that the FBI and our local law enforcement partners will never stop working to make our communities safer and free from violent crime.”
If convicted, defendants Feliciano-Trinidad, Velazquez-Figueroa, Daliot-Rios, Quinones, Sanchez-Laporte, Rivera-Silva, and Alvarez-Jackson face death eligible offenses.
If convicted, defendants Alvarado and Malave-Medina face up to life imprisonment.
If convicted, defendant Garcia-Ortiz faces up to 40 years imprisonment.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Berks County District Attorney’s Office, the Berks County Detectives, and the Reading Police Department, with assistance from the Pennsylvania State Police and the Montgomery County Detectives, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kelly A. Lewis Fallenstein and Special Assistant United States Attorney Rosalynda M. Michetti.
An indictment, information, or criminal complaint is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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