Bridgeport Man, 20, Admits To Role In 2019 Gang-Related Murder: Feds

BRIDGEPORT, CT — A 20-year-old Bridgeport man pleaded guilty this week to a racketeering offense stemming from his involvement in a violent Bridgeport street gang, including the murder of a rival in July 2019, announced U.S. Attorney Vanessa Roberts Avery.

Tyrone Moore, also known as "Ty Ralph Lauren," pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden in Bridgeport. In addition to Avery, the announcement of the guilty plea also was made by Joseph T. Corradino, State’s Attorney for the Fairfield Judicial District; Bridgeport Acting Police Chief Rebeca Garcia; David Sundberg, 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; Brian D. Boyle, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration for New England, and Acting U.S. Marshal Lawrence Bobnick.

According to court documents and statements, the FBI, ATF, DEA, U.S. Marshals Service and Bridgeport Police have been investigating multiple Bridgeport-based gangs whose members are involved in narcotics trafficking, murder and other acts of violence.

Moore was a member of the "East End gang," which began as a local street gang based in the East End of Bridgeport, but currently has members and associates who are either incarcerated or living throughout Bridgeport and surrounding towns, according to prosecutors.

The East End gang has been aligned with other groups, including the PT Barnum Gang, the East Side gang and 150, which is a geographic gang based on the West Side of Bridgeport. These groups were aligned against rival organizations in Bridgeport, including the “Original North End” (“O.N.E.”) and the“Greene Homes Boyz,” (“GHB/Hotz”), based in the Charles F. Greene Homes Housing Complex in Bridgeport’s North End.

Prosecutors said that Moore and other East End members distributed heroin, crack cocaine, marijuana and Percocet pills; used and shared firearms; and committed murder and other acts of violence against rival gang members and other individuals.

East End members celebrated their criminal conduct on social media websites such as Facebook and YouTube, and committed acts of intimidation and made threats to deter potential witnesses to their crimes and to protect gang members and associates from detection and prosecution by law enforcement authorities.

In pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to engage in a pattern of racketeering activity, Moore specifically admitted that, on July12, 2019, he and another East End member shot and killed Shawn Warren, also known as “Kujoe,” a member and associate of the O.N.E. gang.

Under the terms of a binding plea agreement, if accepted by the court, the parties have agreed that a sentence of between 20 and 30 years of imprisonment is an appropriate sentence in this case.

Moore is detained pending sentencing, which is not scheduled.

This investigation is being conducted by the FBI’s Safe Streets and Violent Crimes Task Forces, ATF, DEA, U.S. Marshals Service, Bridgeport Police Department, Connecticut State Police and the Bridgeport State’s Attorney’s Office, with the assistance of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Connecticut Forensic Science Laboratory and the Waterbury Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rahul Kale, Jocelyn C. Kaoutzanis, and Stephanie T. Levick.

This prosecution is a part of the Justice’s Department’s Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), Project Longevity 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.

Project Longevity is a comprehensive initiative to reduce gun violence in Connecticut’s major cities. Through Project Longevity, community members and law enforcement directly engage with members of groups that are prone to commit violence and deliver a community message against violence, a law enforcement message about the consequences of further violence and an offer of help for those who want it. If a group member elects to engage in gun violence, the focused attention of federal, state and local law enforcement will be directed at that entire group.

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.