Leaders of a violent Newhallville-based gang that sowed terror throughout New Haven are now staring at a terrifying prospect themselves: decades of hard time in federal prison.
So claim the police in the wake of a federal sweep announced earlier this week that netted 37 alleged drug dealers.
That sweep “absolutely” included all the leaders of the gang known as R2, according to New Haven Police Chief Frank Limon.
“We’re still investigating the loose ends of the organization,” Limon said. Street violence and drug-dealing in Newhallville have dropped as a result of the arrests, he said. He called on the community to alert police about R2 replacements who may appear in the street.
“It’s been quiet out there. But we’re going to be keeping a close eye,” he said. “We’ve dismantled an organization that was responsible for putting the drugs in the community. It’s up to the community to step in now to sustain the effort.”
He and others familiar with the case said that the 37 arrestees were all either members of the Read Street-centered gang or leaders of a statewide cocaine distribution network that did business with them.
Word about R2’s alleged mayhem — two homicides, three attempted armed assaults on cops, 19 aggravated assaults, 78 firearms discharges, and 15 street robberies, all in a relatively short period of time — became public just as Limon, a seasoned organized crime-buster from Chicago, arrived in New Haven this spring to take over as chief. Read about R2’s history and alleged exploits here. The gang has been based in Newhallville and in the contiguous Highwood section of southern Hamden.
A TNU Triumph
This week’s federal sweep marked the end of a nearly year-long joint operation conducted by New Haven and Hamden cops in conjunction with the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, and other local departments.
A rash of violent crimes prompted New Haven’s tactical narcotics unit (TNU) to launch the investigation last fall.
That unit was in the process of reconstituting itself with new leadership and new values after its predecessor’s dismantling in the wake of a federal corruption probe. (Read about that here.)
Police were unable to make arrests in some of the shootings reported at the time. But sources in the community tied the shootings to R2. So TNU decided to focus a long-term probe on the gang.
Along the way it made arrests of some of the gang’s gun-wielding younger members such as “.40 Cal Al,” whom older gang leaders would “pay $100 or $200 to go over and fire up a house,” in the words of one person familiar with the investigation. The cops’ idea was to get the people directly committing shootings off the street as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, TNU methodically developed information about the older leaders coordinating drug sales throughout the state. Some had been in and out of jail for years. Some didn’t carry guns, figuring younger armed street-level lieutenants risked less jail time if caught.
Investigators made some arrests of higher-up members but only on state charges that netted no more than a few months in a nearby jail. But they were collecting more information along the way and setting up drug buys to build their case.
Eventually they had enough evidence to bring to their partners in federal agencies, who decided the suspects could be investigated on more serious federal gun and drug charges. The feds brought more sophisticated wiretapping and other electronic surveillance equipment to the effort.
The results: Enough evidence to convince a federal grand jury to indict the 37 suspects on Nov. 10 on charges including conspiracy to possess cocaine and cocaine base with an intent to sell, use of a telephone to facilitate a drug trafficking felony, “maintaining a drug involved premises,” criminal forfeiture, and felonious possession of a firearm.
The defendants face penalties ranging from five-year minimum to life sentences. Unlike in state court, these sentences won’t have the possibility of parole; those convicted would have to serve at least 85 percent of the time. Also unlike in state court, convicted defendants end up being shipped to prisons throughout the country.
Authorities arrested 30 of the 37 before going public with the indictment in a statement released by the U.S. Attorney late Tuesday. The raids also netted one kilogram of cocaine, 150-plus grams of crack, some $75,000 in cash, and assorted cars, motorcycles, and guns.
Four more suspects have been arrested since; three remain at large.
The Tuesday press release noted that the case was built partly through court-approved wiretaps.
Despite the magnitude of this case — it allegedly dismantled one of the region’s most notorious violent gangs as well as a much bigger regional crack-dealing network — authorities did not hold a press conference or disclose many details. Neither the indictment nor the press release included references to R2.
They did include the names, ages, and nicknames of the arrestees. While some were in their late teens or early 20s and not considered gang leaders, the older ages and reputations of some of the suspects were notable to street outreach workers and veteran cops familiar with the area. The arrestees go by nicknames like “Pooka,” Cuddy Russ,” “Hot Sauce,” “Hottie, “Day Day, “Pooty,” Mo Digs,” Tilt, “Hap, “Win,” “Lil’ Red,” “G.I.,” “Finner,” “Gurb,” “Gotti,” and “D.”
One of the arrestees, a 34-year-old Winchester Avenue man who goes by the street name “Mighty,” ran the broader crack-dealing network, according to authorities. Others are 50, 52, and 54 years old.
“God” — the handle of a defendant from West Division Street — is 45.
“He gave himself the nickname,” said one person familiar with the investigation. “He acted like he was a lot bigger than he was.”
Street Outreach
Violence has also abated in Newhallville thanks to the quieter work of mediators, according to Alderman Charles Blango.
Blango said he and Alderwoman Alfreda Edwards joined top neighborhood cop Lt. Thaddeus Reddish at a summit with young gang kids and parents earlier this year. They invited Shirley Ellis-West, who supervises the non-police street outreach workers program comprised of former felons who’ve gone straight. Ellis-West said she found 10 slots in a summer training program for some of the kids.
And this August, Ellis-West said, her team held four sessions mediating a brewing beef among different teens in Newhallville and southern Hamden. They required the kids to bring their parents. She said the sessions produced a truce that has largely lasted. The outreach workers took the kids on trips together and have continued working with them.
Neither Ellis-West nor Blango recognized any of the names of the 37 arrestees when the list was read to them Thursday as young at-risk people they’ve been working with. (With one exception: Blango knew one of the younger people in a different context.) They said they have no idea which of the at-risk young people they work with belong to R2 — or even, when people proclaim an “R2” allegiance, they really belong to that group or just mean they hang out near Read Street.
Authorities have been slow to give out much info about the bust. Blango said he first heard about the arrests when he bumped into an officer while doing a door-to-door constituent canvas Wednesday night.
“I don’t know if they [R2] are dismantled,” he said. “I have to basically go find out who’s who.”