Richard Thomas Porter (July 26, 1965January 3, 1990), better known as Rich Porter, was an American drug kingpin and gangster who rose to prominence in the

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

neighborhood of New York City during the crack era in the mid–1980s. The 2002 film '' Paid in Full'' was based on Rich and his partners

Azie Faison Azie Faison Jr. (born November 11, 1964), sometimes known by the nickname "AZ", is an American former drug dealer and businessman who attained notoriety during the War on Drugs era as an individual drug dealer in New York. His five-year reign as ...

and

Alpo Martinez Alberto Geddis Martinez, better known as Alpo Martinez, Abraham G. Rodriquez (witness protection), or more simply as Alpo or Po (June 8, 1966 – October 31, 2021) was an American drug dealer from Harlem, New York City of Puerto Rican descent. Ma ...

Life

Born Richard Thomas Porter in the

section of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, Porter was the oldest of three children born to Velma Porter. He had a younger sister Patricia (born in 1966) and brother William Donnell (1977-c.1990). Porter began selling drugs at the age of 12, rising through the ranks of the drug trade in Harlem. He became known for his flamboyant and high-profile lifestyle. He was rumored to have never worn the same outfit twice and that he owned over a dozen luxury vehicles that he kept in a garage in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

during the height of his career as a drug dealer.

Death

Rich Porter was murdered on January 3, 1990, and his body was found in the vicinity of Orchard Beach,

Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

the following day. Porter had been shot several times in the head and chest and at the time of his death police found $2,239 in his pocket. Porter's friend and former drug dealing partner

was charged with the murder and was later convicted. On December 5, 1989, Porter's 12-year-old brother William Porter was kidnapped in

on his way to school. The kidnappers cut William’s finger off in order to extort $500,000, later lowered to $350,000, in ransom money from Rich. William was eventually killed and his body was found on January 28, 1990, a mile away from where Rich's body was found, less than one month after Rich's murder. William and Rich's maternal uncle Johnny “Apple” Porter was found to be responsible for William’s kidnapping and murder.

In popular culture

The 2002 film '' Paid in Full'' was based on the life and death of Rich, and his involvement in drug dealing along with

and

. His character was portrayed by fellow

native

Mekhi Phifer Mekhi Phifer (; born December 29, 1974) is an American actor. He portrayed Dr. Greg Pratt on NBC's long-running medical drama '' ER'' until 2008 and had a co-starring role opposite actor/rapper Eminem in the 2002 feature film '' 8 Mile''. He was ...

. Richard Porter and the kidnapping and murder of his 12-year-old brother are also the subject of an episode of

the FBI Files ''The FBI Files'' is an American television docudrama series that originally ran from 1998 to 2006 on the Discovery Channel and produced by New Dominion Pictures. The show was cancelled in 2006. However, Court TV Mystery, Discovery, and its siste ...

(Season 03, Episode 18) "The C-11 Squad".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Porter, Rich 1965 births 1990 deaths American drug traffickers African-American gangsters Murdered American gangsters People murdered by African-American organized crime People from Harlem Criminals from Manhattan Gangsters from New York City People murdered in New York City Deaths by firearm in the Bronx 20th-century African-American people