Alejandro Vargas-Diaz pleads guilty in fatal pool hall shooting, prosecutors say
Alejandro Vargas-Diaz, 41, of Port Jefferson is scheduled to be sentenced in September after pleading guilty in the fatal shooting of a Selden man. Credit: SCPD
A Port Jefferson man pleaded guilty Monday to the 2018 fatal shooting of a father of three from Selden following an argument inside a pool hall, Suffolk County prosecutors said.
Alejandro Vargas-Diaz, 41, who fled the state after the shooting and was found living in Florida, pleaded guilty in District Court in Central Islip to the second-degree murder of Albert Luis Rodriguez-Lopez, 27, and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon.
Vargas-Diaz is expected to be sentenced to 23 years to life in prison when he returns to court on Sept. 13, prosecutors said.
“For five years, the relatives and loved ones of Mr. Rodriguez-Lopez have waited for justice for this senseless murder," said Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney. "Today, with his admission of guilt, justice has been served.”
Christopher Brocato, Vargas-Diaz's Central Islip-based defense attorney, did not respond to a request for comment.
On July 22, 2018, Vargas-Diaz and Rodriguez-Lopez got into an argument inside a pool hall in Port Jefferson, prosecutors said. During the argument, the victim punched Vargas-Diaz in the face, knocking him to the ground, court documents state.
Shortly thereafter, Vargas-Diaz ambushed Rodriguez-Lopez in the pool hall, and shot him in the back, neck, and shoulder, authorities said. Rodriguez-Lopez died at the scene and Vargas-Diaz immediately fled the state.
A month after the murder, Suffolk police found the murder weapon — a 9 mm pistol — hidden in a tree at the Setauket Port Jefferson Greenway Trail, prosecutors said.
On June 18, 2021, nearly three years after the shooting, Vargas-Diaz was arrested by members of the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office in Florida after a tip to Crime Stoppers, officials said.
Vargas-Diaz was extradited back to Suffolk on Nov. 11, 2021, to be arraigned on the murder charge.
Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.
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