Members Of Reading-Based Violent Drug Crew Sentenced To Federal Prison

Monday, December 9, 2024, 8:00 P.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher Englebrook Independent News,

PHILADELPHIA, PA.- On Thursday, December 5, 2024, Dewayne Quinones, 30, and Mayco Alvarez-Jackson, 27, both of Reading, Pennsylvania, and members of Reading-Based violent Trinidad Drug Drug Trafficking Organization, appeared in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and were sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Juan R. Sanchez to life in federal prison for their convictions of Murder; Kidnapping; Drug Distribution and Firearms charges.

     Both Quinones and Alvarez-Jackson committed the crimes as members of the Reading area Trinidad Drug Trafficking Organization that distributed large quantities of illicit narcotics, employing violence and fear throughout the streets of the City of Reading within Berks County, Pennsylvania.

According To The U.S. Attorney’s Office

     According to U.S. Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero, the Trinidad Drug Trafficking Organization was responsible for multiple homicides, kidnapping, and conspiracy to kidnap in 2017 and 2018, including a quadruple homicide on January 28, 2018.

     In October 2022, Quinones, Alvarez-Jackson, and the Drug Trafficking Organization’s leader, Jesus Feliciano-Trinidad, were convicted at trial of federal murder and weapons charges related to the January 28, 2018, quadruple homicide, with Feliciano-Trinidad being sentenced to life in prison in December 2023.

     More than fifteen individuals were charged in a series of indictments resulting from a years-long investigation into the Trinidad Drug Trafficking Organization’s operation of receiving, processing, and distribution of methamphetamine, heroin, fentanyl, cocaine, and crack cocaine.

     The indictments laid out the organization’s operations, from utilizing a number of buildings, residences, firearms, and acts of violence to further their drug distribution activities throughout Reading and surrounding areas, including kidnapping and shooting multiple individuals in 2017 and 2018, conspiring to shoot and kill Miguel Reyes on December 13, 2017. The abduction and killing of Hector Gonzalez-Rivera on January 24, 2018, and the shooting deaths of Jarlyn Lantigua-Tejada, Juan Rodriguez, Nelson Onofre, and Joshua Santos on January 28, 2018.

     “The Trinidad organization thoroughly terrorized the Reading area for years,” said U.S. Attorney Romero. “Through remorseless violence, they controlled their turf to keep pushing their position and making their money. As this case shows, my office, the FBI, and our local law enforcement partners will never cede control of our communities to violent gangs. We’ll continue to work on the public’s behalf to lock up these dangerous offenders who shatter folks’ sense of security and quality of life.”