Tavaughn Wright, Drug & Gun Offenses, Waterbury CT, 2023

WATERBURY, CT – Tavaughn Wright, 29, known on the streets as “Teddy,” is headed to federal prison for more than five years after being sentenced Wednesday for his role in a violent Waterbury street gang. U.S. District Judge Kari A. Dooley handed down a 63-month sentence, followed by four years of supervised release, for narcotics and firearm offenses that fueled the city’s escalating violence.

The sentencing is the result of a joint investigation by the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and the Waterbury Police Department, targeting multiple Waterbury-based groups involved in drug trafficking and violent crime. Investigators zeroed in on the 960 gang and Wright’s activities, which included distributing narcotics from a Buckingham Street location used as a processing and storage hub.

On February 13, 2020, authorities raided both Wright’s residence on Bucks Hill Road and the Buckingham Street stash house. The search of Wright’s home turned up nearly 500 dose bags of heroin/fentanyl. The Buckingham Street location yielded another 60 bags of the deadly mix, along with a loaded 9mm handgun. Tracing the weapon revealed it had been stolen in Maine back in 2016, adding another layer of criminality to the case.

Wright’s prior felony convictions meant possessing the firearm was already a federal offense. Federal law prohibits anyone previously convicted of a felony from owning a firearm or ammunition that has crossed state lines. He’d been held without bail since the February 2020 raids, awaiting the outcome of the case. On June 13, 2023, Wright pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, and one count of unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon.

The investigation extended beyond Waterbury, with assistance from the Watertown Police Department, New Milford Police Department, and the Connecticut Department of Correction. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Geoffrey M. Stone, John T. Pierpont, Jr., and Natasha M. Freismuth, alongside Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney Don E. Therkildsen, Jr. and Assistant State’s Attorney Alexandra Arroyo, prosecuted the case. The State’s Attorney’s office officials were specially designated to assist with the federal prosecution.

This case is part of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods and the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) programs, initiatives aimed at dismantling violent criminal organizations and reducing drug-related violence nationwide. The bust serves as a warning to other Waterbury gangs that federal and local law enforcement are actively working to disrupt their operations and bring them to justice.

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