Two Members of Violent Waterbury Gang Plead Guilty
DAYQUAIN SINISTERRA, also known as “Quan,” 26, and AHMED ALVES, also known as “Stones,” 26, both of Waterbury, pleaded guilty this week in Bridgeport federal court to offenses stemming from their participation in the 960 gang, a violent Waterbury street gang.
Today’s announcement was made by Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut; Maureen T. Platt, State’s Attorney for the Waterbury Judicial District; Robert Fuller, Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; James Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge, ATF Boston Field Division; and Waterbury Police Chief Fernando C. Spagnolo.
According to court documents and statements made in court, in an effort to address drug trafficking and related violence in Waterbury, the FBI, ATF, and Waterbury Police have been investigating multiple Waterbury-based groups, including the 960 gang. On September 14, 2021, a federal grand jury in Hartford returned a 36-count indictment charging Sinisterra, Alves, and 14 other alleged 960 gang members with racketeering, narcotics trafficking, firearm possession, murder, attempted murder and assault, and obstruction of justice offenses.
On March 13, 2024, Sinisterra pleaded guilty to one count of racketeering conspiracy, six counts of attempted murder and assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering, and three counts of carrying and using a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.
Sinisterra specifically admitted that he and other 960 members were engaged in violent activity and conspired to shoot and murder members of rival gangs, including:
- On September 21, 2018, in retaliation for the murder of an associate, Sinisterra and other 960 members participated in drive-by shootings of occupied residences on Lounsbury Street and Scott Road in Waterbury.
- On October 6, 2018, in a drive-by shooting, Sinisterra and other gang members attempted to murder individuals believed to be members of a rival gang, which resulted in gunshot wounds to an individual.
- On October 11, 2018, in an effort to murder rival gang members, Sinisterra and other gang members participated in a drive-by shooting that resulted in the death of an innocent bystander, 30-year-old Fransua Guzman, and the paralysis of a second victim.
- On November 1, 2018, Sinisterra shot a rival gang member.
- On November 18, 2018, Sinisterra and other gang members participated in a drive-by shooting of rival gang members, which resulted in gunshot wounds to two individuals.
Sinisterra is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Kari A. Dooley on June 17, 2024. If Judge Dooley accepts the terms of a binding plea agreement, Sinisterra will be sentenced to 35 years of imprisonment.
Sinisterra has been detained since his arrest on November 21, 2018.
On March 12, 2024, Alves pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, and one count of being an accessory after the fact. Alves admitted that he trafficked drugs in furtherance of the 960 enterprises. He also admitted that, after the gang-related shooting that occurred on November 18, 2018, Alves picked up 960 members who participated in the shooting using a stolen car and drove them to a 960 member’s residence where they stashed firearms. Later, 960 members drove the stolen car and left it in Meriden, and Alves again picked them up.
Alves was arrested on September 16, 2021. He is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Dooley on June 13, at which time he faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 35 years.
Alves is released on a $100,000 bond pending sentencing.
This investigation is being conducted by the FBI’s Northern Connecticut Gang Task Force, ATF, and Waterbury Police Department, with the assistance of the Watertown Police Department, New Milford Police Department and Connecticut Department of Correction. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Geoffrey M. Stone, John T. Pierpont, Jr. and Natasha M. Freismuth, and Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney Don E. Therkildsen, Jr. and Deputy Assistant State’s Attorney Alexandra Arroyo of the Waterbury State’s Attorney’s Office, who have been cross designated as Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys in this matter.
This prosecution is a part of the Justice’s Department’s Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) and Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) programs.
PSN is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations through a prosecutor-led and intelligence-driven approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.
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