Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of
Connecticut, announced that HUMBERTO SOTO, 27, of Bridgeport, was sentenced
today by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Alker Meyer in Bridgeport to 84 months of
imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release, for planning to
conduct an armed robbery of narcotics stash house.
This matter stems from “Operation Samson,” an initiative
headed by the ATF and the Bridgeport and New Haven Police Departments that
targeted violent criminals, illegal firearm possession and firearm
trafficking. In the spring of 2014,
approximately 40 ATF special agents and personnel from Connecticut and across
the country were deployed with New Haven and Bridgeport Police to conduct
numerous covert operations.
According to court documents and statements made in court,
in March 2014, the ATF began an investigation into Carlos “Camby” Colon and
Carlos “Joel” Colon, who were known narcotics and firearm traffickers in
Bridgeport. Law enforcement also had
received information that Joel Colon was interested committing an armed robbery
of a drug dealer. During the
investigation, which employed the use of an ATF agent working in an undercover
capacity, the Colons recruited SOTO and others to commit an armed robbery of what
they believed to be a narcotics stash house of 15 kilograms of cocaine. In recorded conversations, SOTO agreed to
secure a firearm for the robbery and stated that any occupants of the house who
brandished a weapon would be shot. SOTO
also stated that all of the participants must be dressed in black, not have
cellular telephones and wear gloves, and suggested that they should create
fictitious tattoos in order to avoid identification.
On April 11, 2014, SOTO, the Colons, Markus Mendez, Nelson
Diaz, Trevor Pierce and Hiram “Gringo” Mojica gathered at a location in
Stamford where they believed they would be informed of the address of the
narcotics stash house, and would then travel to the stash house to conduct the
robbery. All seven were arrested at that
time. A search of the center console of
the vehicle that SOTO and Mendez drove to the meet location revealed a loaded
and cocked Ruger 9mm pistol. A search of
the car that Diaz, Pierce and Mojica drove to the location also revealed a
loaded .40 caliber pistol.
SOTO has been detained since his arrest. On March 2, 2015, he pleaded guilty to one
count of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery and one count of use
of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.
Camby Colon, Joel Colon, Mendez, Diaz, Pierce and Mojica
have pleaded guilty and await sentencing.
No comments:
Post a Comment