'Known Bloods Gang Member' Pleads Guilty To Gun, Drug Charges: Feds

NEW HAVEN, CT —A 22-year-old New Haven man that the Justice Department says is a "known Bloods gang member," pleaded guilty in federal court to firearm and drug offenses.

Shavarius Smith pleaded guilty to one count of possession of ammunition by a felon and one count of possession with intent to distribute heroin and crack cocaine. For both charges, he faces a maximum of 30 years in federal prison when sentenced Oct. 3, per US Attorney for Connecticut Vanessa Roberts Avery.

According to Avery, court documents and statements made in court, on Oct. 8, 2021, at approximately 11:15 p.m., New Haven Police recovered 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. Smith, a known Bloods gang member, the US Attorney said, was released from prison on Sept. 2, 2021, was serving a term of probation, and was wearing a GPS ankle monitor as a condition of his probation. Officers located and arrested Smith a short time later, prosecutors said.

Smith’s criminal history includes state felony convictions for larceny and drug offenses, court records show. It is a violation of federal law for a person previously convicted of a felony offense to possess a firearm or ammunition that has moved in interstate or foreign commerce, per Avery.

The case, investigated by the ATF and the New Haven Police Department, is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jocelyn Courtney Kaoutzanis through the Justice’s Department’s Project Safe Neighborhoods program and Project Longevity.

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.