SUFFOLK COUNTY, N.Y. – Alejandro Vargas-Diaz, a 41-year-old resident of Port Jefferson, pleaded guilty to Second Degree Murder and other related charges for the 2018 fatal shooting of Albert Luis Rodriguez-Lopez, a 27-year-old resident of Selden and father of three.
This announcement came from Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney.
On July 22, 2018, following a dispute in a Port Jefferson pool hall, Vargas-Diaz ambushed and shot Rodriguez-Lopez in the back, neck, and shoulder.
He fled New York state immediately after. One month after the incident, members of the Suffolk County Police Department discovered the murder weapon, a 9 mm pistol, hidden in a tree at the Setauket Port Jefferson Greenway Trail.
Almost three years after the murder, on June 18, 2021, the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office in Florida arrested Vargas-Diaz, following a tip-off. He was extradited back to Suffolk County on November 11, 2021. On Monday, Vargas-Diaz admitted his guilt before Acting Supreme Court Justice, the Honorable Steven A. Pilewski.
He is due back in court on September 13, for sentencing, and is expected to be sentenced to 23 years to life in prison. Vargas-Diaz’s attorney is Christopher Brocato, Esq.
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