WHITE PLAINS, NY (April 29, 2026) —
A New York man who turned a New Rochelle hotel room into a cocaine processing lab — accidentally setting it on fire and flooding an entire floor — was sentenced Tuesday to five years in federal prison, the mandatory minimum for his offense.
Pedro Marte, 47, of New York, was sentenced April 21 in U.S. District Court in White Plains by Judge Philip M. Halpern after pleading guilty to possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine. In addition to the prison term, Marte was ordered to pay $94,554 in restitution and will serve four years of supervised release upon his release.
The case began the night of April 6, 2025, when New Rochelle police and firefighters responded to the Marriott Residence Inn at 35 LeCount Place — part of the New Roc City complex — after the hotel’s fire suppression system activated in Room 728 on the seventh floor. The sprinkler discharge flooded the floor and damaged 27 rooms.
Inside Room 728, officers found a portable stove, cans of acetone, bottles of hydrochloric acid, a chemistry cylinder, and approximately 77 grams of cocaine — equipment and materials consistent with converting powder cocaine into crack cocaine, according to a federal Drug Enforcement Administration affidavit. Investigators determined the room had been booked through Expedia by Marte, who had previously stayed at the hotel.
Surveillance footage captured Marte fleeing the hotel soaking wet after the sprinklers activated. He was later found at East Elmhurst Hospital in Queens being treated for burns to his hand, torso, and foot. He told investigators he had been at the hotel at the time of the fire and had been alone.
A subsequent search of Marte’s taxi route led detectives to a storage facility at 54 Nardozzi Place in New Rochelle. Armed with a warrant signed by New Rochelle City Court Justice Jared Rice, officers searched locker No. 2228 and found approximately three kilograms of cocaine, 12.2 grams of fentanyl, a five-foot kilo press, kilo stamps, cutting agents, scales, and drug packaging materials.
“As alleged, Pedro Marte turned a New Rochelle hotel room into a dangerous drug lab,” U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said when federal charges were announced in May 2025. “We should all be able to stay in a hotel without worrying about exposure to dangerous and potentially lethal drug trafficking.”
DEA Special Agent in Charge Frank A. Tarentino called Marte’s actions “reckless and unconscionable,” adding that the hotel room lab “placed the lives of innocent guests in danger” and that without the immediate response of law enforcement and first responders, “the results could have been catastrophic.”
Marte pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(B). The federal case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Carmi Schickler of the SDNY’s White Plains Division.
The five-year federal sentence runs concurrently with any sentence imposed in pending state proceedings in New Rochelle City Court and Westchester County Court, where Marte faces additional charges including arson, reckless endangerment, and criminal possession of a controlled substance.
His next state court appearance in Westchester County Court is scheduled for May 21, 2026.
The court recommended that Marte be housed at a federal facility near the New York metropolitan area and that he participate in the Bureau of Prisons’ Residential Drug Abuse Program. Upon release, he will be subject to four years of supervised release, including mandatory drug treatment, financial disclosures, and consent to searches of his person, property, and electronic devices.
This article was prepared with the assistance of AI tools under the direction and editing of Robert Cox.
Have information about this story? Email robertcox@talkofthesound (preferred) or contact via WhatsApp: +353 089 972 0669.
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