A Connecticut teen pleaded guilty last week to a racketeering offense stemming from his role in a violent New Haven street gang.
Devin Suggs also known as “JB,” 19, of New Haven, faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years. Suggs has been detained since August 3, 2023.
The ATF, FBI, DEA, and New Haven Police Department, in close collaboration with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the New Haven State’s Attorney’s Office, have been looking into an ongoing gang war between members and associates of the Exit 8 street gang and rival gangs in the Hill section and other parts of the city, according to court documents and statements made in court.
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This is part of an effort to address violence in New Haven, officials say.
The Exit 8 gang takes its name from the region that can be reached by taking Exit 8 on Interstate 91 in New Haven. More youthful Exit 8 members have started using the moniker “Honcho” to identify themselves. This moniker is derived from the street name of an Exit 8 member who was killed on Quinnipiac Avenue in February 2020.
According to the investigation, Suggs and other Exit 8 gang members used and shared firearms and trafficked drugs, and since June 2018, at least three murders and sixteen attempted murders have been committed.
Members and associates of Exit 8 have also been known to steal cars, sometimes from outside the state, and use those cars as cover for violent crimes. Moreover, gang members used text messaging and social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube to plan, coordinate, facilitate, and celebrate the distribution of drugs and violent crimes.
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Suggs admitted specifically that he participated in five shootings of rival gang members between April 2021 and January 2023. He also entered a guilty plea to conspiracy to engage in a pattern of racketeering activity.
Due to these shootings, a rival gang member was shot in the leg on April 27, 2021; another rival gang member was shot in the leg and torso on May 14, 2021; and on May 20, 2021, two victims were shot in the leg and back.
Suggs and other Exit 8 members shot a rival gang member in New Haven by drive-by later on January 20, 2023, after robbing an SUV in Scarsdale, New York. Despite being shot in the head, the victim lived to tell the tale.
This investigation is being conducted by ATF, the FBI, the DEA, the New Haven Police Department, the Hamden Police Department, and the New Haven State’s Attorney’s Office, with the assistance of the Connecticut State Police and the Connecticut Forensic Science Laboratory.
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