Port Jefferson Man Sentenced To Prison For 2018 Fatal Shooting: SCDA

SUFFOLK COUNTY, NY — The man who shot another man dead at a pool hall in Port Jefferson in 2018 was sentenced to 23 years to life in prison, plus five years of post-release supervision, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney announced Wednesday.

Alejandro Vargas-Diaz, 41, of Port Jefferson, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder after he killed 27-year-old Albert Luis Rodriguez-Lopez, the DA said.

"This sentence should be a warning to all those who think they could escape responsibility for murder simply by fleeing the jurisdiction," Tierney said in a news release. "Law enforcement in Suffolk County does not forget. Your crimes will catch up to you, and you will be held responsible for your actions. This defendant's prison sentence attests to that."

Vargas-Diaz and Rodriguez-Lopez got into an argument inside the pool hall on July 22, 2018, officials said. Rodriguez-Lopez punched Vargas-Diaz in the face, knocking him to the ground, prosecutors said.

Shortly after, Vargas-Diaz ambushed Rodriguez-Lopez inside the pool hall, and shot him in the back, neck and shoulder, authorities said. Rodriguez-Lopez, a father of three and a Selden resident, died in the pool hall, investigators said.

Vargas-Diaz immediately fled and absconded from New York state, the DA said.

One month after the killing, Suffolk police officers found the murder weapon, a 9 mm pistol, hidden in a tree at the Setauket Port Jefferson Greenway Trail, Tierney said.

Vargas-Diaz was arrested by members of the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office in Florida on June 18, 2021 — nearly three years after the fatal shooting — following a crime stoppers tip. He was extradited back to Suffolk County on Nov. 11, 2021, to be arraigned on the charges related to the murder.

Vargas-Diaz pleaded guilty on July 24 to second-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon. He was represented by Christopher Brocato.