BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — A member of Waterbury’s violent 960 gang pleaded guilty to numerous offenses in Bridgeport federal court on Monday, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut.
Justin “J.U.” Cabrera, 25, of Waterbury, pleaded guilty to one count of attempted murder and assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering, and one count of carrying and using a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.
Court documents and statements made in court note that the FBI, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Waterbury police have been investigating multiple Waterbury-based groups to address drug trafficking and related violence in the city.
Prosecutors saID that on Sept. 14, 2021, a federal grand jury in Hartford indicted Cabrera and 15 other alleged 960 gang members in a 36-count indictment with racketeering, narcotics trafficking, firearm possession, murder, attempted murder and assault and obstruction of justice offenses.
On Oct. 31, 2017, 960 members shot and wounded an individual in an attempt to murder members of a rival gang, according to prosecutors. By pleading guilty, Cabrera admitted he operated one of the vehicles used in the shooting.
Cabrera will be sentenced on Dec. 9 and faces a mandatory minimum term in prison of 10 years and a maximum term of life in prison.
The investigation has been led by the FBI’s Northern Connecticut Gang Task Force, the Waterbury Police Department, ATF and U.S. Marshals Service with help from the Southington Police Department, the Watertown Police Department, the New Milford Police Department, Connecticut State Police, Connecticut Department of Correction, Connecticut Forensic Science Laboratory and the DEA Laboratory.
The case is being prosecuted as part of the Justice Department’s Project Safe Neighborhoods and Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces, or OCDETF, programs.
Project Safe Neighborhoods looks to bring together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to lessen gun violence and other violent crime. The program hopes to make neighborhoods safer for everyone.
The OCDETF program aims to identify, disrupt and dismantle drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs and transnational criminal organizations using prosecutor-led and intelligence-driven strategies that leverage the strength of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.
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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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