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A member of the New Bedford Chapter of the Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation pleaded guilty today to being a felon in possession of a firearm as a result of a federal investigation into a shooting on April 19, 2020, in New Bedford.
Alexander Pizarro, a/k/a “King Tego,” 28, pleaded guilty to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. U.S. Senior District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock scheduled sentencing for Jan. 19, 2021. Pizarro was charged in May 2020.
On April 19, 2020, police responded to a report of seven shots fired near a residence on Clark Street in New Bedford. During the response, police located a tan and black Taurus 9mm firearm in an alleyway near the residence. Based on information received from a 911 caller, police were directed to an apartment and located Pizarro. After searching his cell phone, investigators located a photograph of Pizarro in the apartment holding what appeared to be the same firearm that was recovered from Clark Street. This photograph was taken approximately two hours before the shots-fired incident. Through ballistics comparison, the seized firearm was matched to the recovered shell casings from the shooting that evening.
Due to multiple prior convictions, Pizarro is prohibited from possessing firearms. According to court documents, Pizarro was known to investigators to be a member of the New Bedford Chapter of the Latin Kings, and had recently posted multiple pictures holding firearms to his SnapChat account. At the time of the shooting incident, Pizarro was on probation for a 2017 firearms conviction in Rhode Island.
The charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based on the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Kelly D. Brady, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, New England Field Division; and New Bedford Police Chief Joseph C. Cordeiro made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip A. Mallard of Lelling’s Organized Crime and Gang Unit is prosecuting the case.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.
