Thomas MacMillan File Photo
Judge Bolden: "There is a world beyond what you’ve seen, and it is far better."
A federal judge on Tuesday sentenced an Exit 8 gang member to 15 years in prison, rather than the full recommended 20, after recognizing that the defendant’s “mind and soul” have been incarcerated well before he actually goes behind bars.
U.S. District Court Judge Victor Bolden issued that ruling Tuesday morning during a sentencing hearing in the case of Jaedyn Rivera, who has pleaded guilty to participating in seven attempted murders as a member of a gang named after the area around the I‑91 exit where it operates in and around Eastern Street and Quinnipiac Avenue housing complexes.
“Can you free yourself? You can never be free unless your mind and your soul are free,” Bolden told Rivera before sentencing him to 182 months — or just over 15 years — in Courtroom 2 of the Richard C. Lee courthouse at 141 Church St.
It was the second sentencing in a series of nine guilty pleas related to racketeering charges Exit 8 members have been hit with and, in Rivera’s case, pleaded guilty to, stemming from their involvement in a number of shootings and attempted homicides. Bolden previously sentenced Exit 8 gang member, Kiveon “Tiny” Hyman, to 78 months in prison in April.
Twenty-six people turned out to the downtown New Haven courthouse to watch the sentencing, including journalists, legal workers, community members, observers, and Rivera’s girlfriend. Rivera walked to the defendant’s table wearing handcuffs and a tan prison uniform. A U.S. marshal uncuffed Rivera as he sat down and the hearing began.
Tuesday’s hearing followed Rivera pleading guilty in January to a number of criminal acts under the aegis of the racketeering conviction, including seven attempted homicides, illegal possession and distribution of firearms, and conspiracy to traffic narcotics.
The sentencing hearing began with Judge Bolden reading out the maximum punishments for a Class C felony. Tara Levens, the Assistant U.S. Attorney prosecuting the case, requested that the court apply a Fernandez downward variance, changing the recommended sentence from 240 months to 235 – 240 months, as part of Rivera’s plea deal.
Assistant Federal Defender Tracy Hayes spoke about Rivera’s past and future. Hayes emphasized Rivera’s “various mental health diagnoses from a young age,” his father’s intermittent imprisonment and eventual death from lung cancer when Rivera was 15, and his best friend Honcho’s death in 2020 while Rivera was serving a four-year sentence for assault.
Hayes described Rivera as a loving brother. A pre-sentencing memo written by the defense describes Rivera “light[ing] up with excitement“ when he speaks about his younger sister. “Let’s talk about his future,” Hayes said. “We know he’s going to serve time, but he wants to be productive in that time.”
According to Hayes’s memo, Rivera always has and “still does” want to attend college. Since his arrest in May 2021 after escaping a halfway house and participating in what Levens called “a shooting spree,” Rivera has been detained at Bridgeport Correctional Center and awaiting sentencing — where, Hayes told the court, “he’s frankly been languishing,” unable to take classes because of his unsentenced status.
Rivera spoke briefly. “I just wanted to say, I’m here to plead guilty. I know what I did was wrong,” he said. His lawyer described him in the pre-sentencing memo as remorseful for his actions.
Levens then laid out the government’s case, leaning on the danger posed by Rivera and other members of the Exit 8 gang. “The Exit 8 gang terrorized the city of New Haven,” she said, naming Rivera as a “clear driver of that violence,” pointing to a shooting whose victim was struck in the head and incurred lifelong brain damage.
Levens urged Bolden to see the sentence as an opportunity to show “[victims who] don’t think the justice system can do anything for them” that a sentence can “protect the public.” No victims were present at the trial — a fact Levens attributed to the fact that “they don’t feel they’re going to be safe.”
Levens also claimed that Rivera’s previous prison time for possession of firearms and assault “didn’t deter his conduct,” citing his continued criminal activity and the 26 tickets he incurred while in jail. “Not even federal indictment could bring [Rivera] into alignment.”
Hayes took another opportunity to humanize Rivera, characterizing him as “someone who lacks direction, someone with mental health issues.” He sought to contextualize Rivera’s actions, noting that it did Rivera a “disservice” to “ignore Mr. Rivera’s past and talk generally about the city’s fear. Mr. Rivera didn’t just wake up one day and start shooting.”
Before delivering the sentence, Bolden took some time to deliberate. “You’re both very effective advocates,” he told the attorneys. He spoke directly to Rivera about the factors he was balancing: the circumstances of Rivera’s upbringing and mental health issues, the need to avoid “unwarranted sentencing disparity” with similar cases, and “just punishment. Adequate deterrence.”
“What is the purpose of a sentence?” Bolden asked rhetorically.
“At the end of the day, you have to take responsibility,” regardless of what could’ve gone differently, Bolden said, telling Rivera he sees signs of “a mind and a soul in prison. Any sentence I give you is preceded by another one — the one you’ve given yourself.”
Bolden closed his remarks with an exegesis on a quote from comedian Trevor Noah’s book Born a Crime: “‘We tell people to follow their dreams, but you can only dream of what you can imagine, and, depending on where you come from, your imagination can be quite limited.’ There is a world beyond what you’ve seen and it is far better.”
The courtroom was quiet as Bolden announced the sentence. Defense attorney Hayes asked Bolden to recommend Federal Medical Center, Devens in Massachusetts as the site for Rivera’s prison term.