Laderrick Jones, also known as ‘Lexus,’ was sentenced to 192 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for his participation in a violent Waterbury street gang.
The 32-year-old Waterbury resident pleaded guilty on March 7, 2024, to one count of racketeering conspiracy. He admitted to trafficking narcotics in furtherance of the 960 enterprise and being aware of the gang’s violent activity, including murders and attempted murders.
On September 14, 2021, a federal grand jury in Hartford returned a 36-count indictment charging Jones and 15 other 960 gang members with racketeering, narcotics trafficking, firearm possession, murder, attempted murder, and assault, and obstruction of justice offenses.
According to court documents, on October 11, 2018, 960 members Gabriel Pulliam and Julian Scott shot into a crowd of people, killing an innocent bystander, 30-year-old Fransua Guzman, and paralyzing a second victim. Jones was in one of the two cars 960 members drove to the scene of the shooting.
Guzman was the mother of four children. Jones has been detained since his arrest on June 27, 2019.
This investigation has been conducted by the FBI’s Northern Connecticut Gang Task Force, Waterbury Police Department, ATF, and U.S. Marshals Service, with the assistance of the Southington Police Department, Watertown Police Department, New Milford Police Department, Connecticut State Police, Connecticut Department of Correction, Connecticut Forensic Science Laboratory, and the DEA Laboratory.
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. Therkildesen, 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 part of the Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) and Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) programs. PSN aims to reduce gun violence and other violent crime by fostering trust and legitimacy in communities, supporting community-based organizations, setting focused enforcement priorities, and measuring results.
OCDETF targets drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations through a prosecutor-led and intelligence-driven approach. The program leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.
Key Facts
- State: Connecticut
- Category: Organized Crime | Drug Trafficking | Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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