U.S. Attorney's Office
Social media postings by arrested alleged Exit 8 members, entered into evidence. The 8 ball is a reference to the gang.
A 19-year-old New Havener faces up to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty Tuesday to participating in five shootings of rival gang members.
The teen, Devin “JB” Suggs, admitted that role in pleading guilty to conspiracy to engage in a pattern of racketeering activity. He entered the plea before U.S. District Court Judge Victor A. Bolden at the federal courthouse on Church Street.
Suggs was the latest guilty plea among nine members of the “Exit 8” gang off I‑91 arrested in a joint federal-NHPD investigation into the group’s drug and gun trafficking and at least three murders and 15 attempted murders committed since June 2018. Click here to read about two previous guilty pleas by other Exit 8 members entered in January.
One of the incidents in which some of the Exit 8 arrestees participated terrified a preschool community: The firing of 23 shots from a stolen SUV that passed by the Dr. Reginald Mayo Early Childhood School just as it let out for the day on April 12, 2022.
The agencies working together on the Exit 8 investigation include the New Haven police; the FBI; the Drug Enforcement Administration; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; and the U.S. and State’s Attorney’s Offices.
The Exit 8 prosecutions have been credited with helping to reduce the number of shootings in New Haven.
A release from the U.S. Attorney’s office described the five shootings in which Suggs admitted taking part: “On April 27, 2021, a rival gang member was shot in the leg; on May 14, 2021, a rival gang member was shot in the leg and torso; and on May 20, 2021, one victim was shot in the back and another victim was shot in the leg. On January 20, 2023, Suggs and other Exit 8 members stole an SUV in Scarsdale, New York, and, later that day, committed a drive-by shooting of a rival gang member in New Haven. The victim was shot in the head, but survived the attack.”
A motion filed by the government quoted social media postings by Suggs in connection with the gang’s activity. One referenced an “ongoing gang war” with a Newhallville-based gang. He captioned a photo of himself with a gun, “I GOTTA STOCK CLIP BUT I WANNA STICK.”
Suggs has been behind bars since agents arrested him on a warrant last Aug. 23. His sentencing has not yet been scheduled.