FBI, Berks District Attorney Announce Arrest of Fugitive Sought in Reading Quadruple Murder, Gun and Drug Crimes

On January 28, 2018, Sanchez-Laporte and four other alleged members of the Trinidad Drug Trafficking Organization confronted four individuals selling narcotics in Reading, Pennsylvania, in a location operated and controlled by the Trinidad Drug Trafficking Organization. The confrontation escalated into threats, then Sanchez-Laporte and associates allegedly opened fire on the individuals. Three victims died at the scene, with the fourth, Sanchez-Laporte’s nephew, succumbing to his wounds at the hospital.

Sanchez-Laporte’s associates have been indicted, arrested, and are awaiting trial in this case; only Sanchez-Laporte had remained at large.

He will be returned by the U.S. Marshals Service to the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, where he was charged by indictment with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, discharging a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and murder in the course of using and carrying a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Kelly A. Lewis Fallenstein and Vineet Gauri, and Special Assistant United States Attorney Rosalynda M. Michetti.

The FBI Philadelphia Field Office would like to thank the Reading Police Department and the Berks County District Attorney’s Office for their partnership in this matter, and the FBI Tampa—Lakeland Resident Agency and the Polk County Sheriff’s Office for their assistance with today’s arrest.