NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Another man has pleaded guilty to a racketeering offense related to his role in New Haven’s violent Exit 8 street gang, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut.
Before pleading guilty to racketeering on Wednesday, Tyjon “TJ” Preston, 21, of New Haven, specifically admitted to taking part in multiple violent acts, including the killing of a woman who recorded a derogatory rap about the gang, prosecutors said.
An investigation revealed that Preston and other members of the gang engaged in drug trafficking, used and shared firearms, and, since June 2018, committed at least three murders and attempted 16 murders, according to prosecutors.
On April 27, 2021, Preston and other Exit 8 members shot a rival gang member in the leg, and on May 19, 2021, Preston and other Exit 8 members conspired to kill rival gang members, including one who was killed that day by another Exit 8 member, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors also said that on May 20, 2021, Preston and other Exit 8 members shot and attempted to kill other rival gang members.
Most notably, on July 5, 2021, Exit 8 members, including Preston, shot and killed a 22-year-old woman who made a rap song containing derogatory comments about the gang, according to prosecutors.
Preston’s sentencing has not yet been scheduled; he faces a maximum term of life in prison. A plea agreement for a sentence between 22 and 30 years has been agreed upon, prosecutors said, noting that Preston has been detained since Sept. 9, 2021.
A collaboration between the Bureau of Alcohol, Tabacco and Firearms, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the New Haven Police Department, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and the New Haven State Attorney’s Office is trying to address violence in New Haven.
The agencies have been investigating an ongoing gang war between Exit 8 members and associates and rival gangs in the Hill section and other areas of the city, according to prosecutors.
The Exit 8 gang is named after the geographic area accessed by exiting Interstate 91 at Exit 8 in New Haven. Younger members of the gang have recently called themselves “Honcho” in memory of an Exit 8 member who was murdered in February 2020.
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Dalton Zbierski is a digital content producer and writer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dzbierski@FOX61.com.
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