'Known' Bloods Gang Member Charged With Gun And Drug Crimes: Feds

NEW HAVEN, CT —A federal grand jury in Bridgeport returned an indictment Wednesday charging Shavarius Smith, 21, of New Haven, with firearm and drug offenses, according to federal law enforcement officials and prosecutors and New Haven Police Chief Renee Dominguez.

Prosecutors allege that on Oct. 8 shortly before midnight, New Haven police found a 9-millimeter “ghost gun” equipped with a 31-round high-capacity magazine, and distribution quantities of heroin and crack cocaine, from a parked stolen vehicle that Smith had been driving.

Federal authorities say Smith, a "known Bloods gang member," had been released from prison around a month before and was on probation and wearing a GPS ankle monitor at the time he was arrested.

Court records show and prosecutors say that Smith’s criminal history includes state felony convictions for larceny and drug offenses and it's a "violation of federal law" for someone with felony convciotns to have a gun "that has moved in interstate or foreign commerce."

The indictment charges Smith with possession of ammunition by a felon, which carries a maximum 10 years in prison, and possession with intent to distribute heroin and crack, which carries a maximum 20 years in prison.

Smith has been detained since his arrest.

This matter is being investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the New Haven Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Maria del Pilar Gonzalez through the Justice’s Department’s Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) program and Project Longevity.