WATERBURY, Conn. — Editor's Note: The above video originally aired May 15, 2024.
Two Waterbury brothers were sentenced to prison for their roles in a violent street gang, according to the U.S. Department of Justice Monday.
Ezra Alves, 24, was sentenced to 21 years in prison and five years of supervised release, the DOJ said. He has been detained since Nov. 15, 2019.
Ahmed Alves was sentenced to four and a half years, followed by three years of supervised release. He was arrested on Sept. 16, 2021, released on a $100,000 bond and is required to report to prison on Oct. 7.
On Sept. 14, 2021, a Hartford federal grand jury indicted 16 members of Waterbury's 960 street gang, including the two brothers, charging them with racketeering, narcotics trafficking, firearm possession, murder, attempted murder and assault and obstruction of justice offenses, according to the DOJ.
The charges came as part of an effort by the FBI, ATF and Waterbury Police Department to "address drug trafficking and related violence in Waterbury" by investigating multiple groups within the city, the DOJ said.
On March 20, Ezra Alves pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy on one count, attempted murder and assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering on three counts, carrying and using a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence on two counts and conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, controlled substances on one count.
He specifically admitted that he, along with other members of the 960 gang, were engaged in drug trafficking and violent activity and a conspiracy to shoot and murder rival gang members, the DOJ said.
Ezra Alves, along with other 960 gang members, participated in three separate drive-by shootings, according to the DOJ. The first took place on Sept. 21, 2018 at an occupied home on Scott Road "in retaliation for the murder of an associate"; the second happened on Oct. 6, 2018 in an attempt to murder rival gang members, injuring one person; and the third happened on Nov. 18, 2018, also involving a shooting that targeted rival gang members, injuring two people.
Ahmed Alves pleaded guilty on March 12 to conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances on one count, and being an accessory after the fact on one count.
He admitted to trafficking drugs for the 960 gang, as well as using a stolen car to pick up gang members who participated in the Nov. 18, 2018 shooting, the DOJ said. The members were driven to a gang member's home where a stash of guns was kept, and after the car was dropped off in Meriden, he picked them up again.
MORE NEWS: Waterbury man sentenced to prison for illegal gun possession and violating supervised release
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