Hartford Man Receives Life Sentence for Murdering Witness

HARTFORD, CT — A Hartford man accused of killing a witness in a drug conspiracy case and plotting to kill a second person was sentenced to life imprisonment Tuesday in Hartford Superior Court.

Dominique Mack, also known as “Lil Sweets,” 26, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea after being found guilty in April of conspiring to commit witness tampering by murdering one individual and planning to murder a second individual, according to Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut.

“Dominique Mack’s malevolent and unrelenting actions to thwart justice have now come to an end,” said Daly. “In order to prevent his own apprehension, he orchestrated the murder of Ian Francis. After being charged with Francis’ murder, Mack then plotted to kill another witness who he believed was going to testify against him in the Francis murder trial. He was highly dangerous and a menace to our community. This was an extremely difficult investigation and prosecution. The prosecutors who led this team, together with our partners from the FBI, the Northern Connecticut Violent Crimes Task Force and the Hartford Police Department’s Major Crimes Division deserve enormous credit for their excellent work in this case. We will continue to work together to prosecute those individuals most responsible for violence in Hartford and Connecticut’s other cities.”

According to the evidence at trial, on Dec. 21, 2010, Ian Francis was shot multiple times while sitting in his vehicle on Sigourney Street in Hartford. Francis succumbed to his injuries on Jan. 15, 2011.

At the time, Mack, who had been charged as part of a multi-defendant federal drug conspiracy, was hiding out in an attempt to evade arrest. On June 15, 2011, law enforcement arrested Mack at an apartment on Vine Street in Hartford. A search of the apartment revealed a Ruger 9mm semi-automatic pistol, which was subsequently determined to be the firearm that was used to murder Francis, Daly said.

An investigation revealed that Mack conspired with Keronn Miller and others to murder Francis to prevent Francis from providing information to law enforcement about Mack’s whereabouts. Miller had lured Francis to the location on Sigourney Street knowing that the plan was to murder Francis when he arrived there, Daly said.

On Dec. 4, 2014, Miller, also known as “Fresh,” of Hartford, pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting in the murder of Francis. Shortly after Miller’s guilty plea, the government received information about a plot to kill a witness for Mack’s upcoming trial. Tyquan Lucien, also known as “TQ” and “Frogger,” who had been arrested as part of this investigation and was incarcerated with Mack at a detention facility in Rhode Island, had told another inmate about a plan by Lucien and Mack to kill an individual who had been identified as a government witness in the case against Miller, Daly said.

An undercover officer who was posing as someone who might be able to commit the murder met with Lucien in the visiting area of the detention facility on Feb. 13, 2015. During the meeting, Lucien ordered the killing of the potential government witness and others, making throat-slashing motions to make his intent clear. Three days later, Lucien met with Mack and relayed to him the facts of the visit, according to Daly.

The jury found Mack guilty of two counts of conspiracy to commit witness tampering by committing first degree murder, an offense that carries a mandatory lifetime term of imprisonment. The jury also found Mack guilty of two counts of possession of a firearm by a previously convicted felon, and not guilty of two counts of tampering with a witness.

Miller was sentenced by Judge Shea to 210 months of imprisonment on Aug. 2, 2016.

Lucien pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit witness tampering by first degree murder on Aug. 24, 2015. He awaits sentencing.

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