BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — A member of Waterbury’s violent 960 gang was sentenced to 18 years in prison in Bridgeport court on Tuesday, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut.
On March 4, D’Andre “Dopeman” Burrus, 30, of Waterbury, pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy and admitted to trafficking heroin, fentanyl and cocaine to further the mission of the 960 gang, prosecutors said. His prison sentence is followed by three years of supervised release.
Court documents and statements note that the FBI, ATF and Waterbury Police Department have been investigating several Waterbury-based groups, including the 960 gang, to address drug trafficking and related violent crime in the city.
Prosecutors said that Burrus and 15 other members of the 960 gang were indicted on 36 counts by a federal grand jury in Hartford on Sept. 14, 2021, with racketeering, narcotics trafficking, firearm possession, murder, attempted murder and assault as well as obstruction of justice offenses.
In addition to pleading guilty on March 4, Burrus admitted that “he conspired to murder members of a rival gang in retaliation for the murder of a fellow 960 member,” the release said.
On Oct. 11, 2018, 960 gang members Gabriel Pulliam and Julian Scott shot into a crowd of people, killing an innocent bystander, 30-year-old Fransua Guzman, while also paralyzing another victim, according to prosecutors. Burrus was in one of two cars 960 members drove to the shooting scene.
Guzman was the mother of four children, prosecutors said.
Burrus was arrested on Feb. 19, 2019, and has been detained ever since.
Prosecutors said the investigation was conducted by the FBI’s Northern Connecticut Gang Task Force, the Waterbury Police Department, ATF and the U.S. Marshals Service with help from a variety of agencies at different levels across the state.
The prosecution is part of the Justice Department’s Project Safe neighborhoods and Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces programs, which use different means and resources to reduce street violence and make communities safer for all residents.
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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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