'Violent' New Haven Gang Member Gets 7 Year Prison Term: Justice Dept.

NEW HAVEN, CT — Samuel Douglas, 25, of New Haven, was sentenced in U.S. District Court to seven years in a federal prison followed by three years of supervised release, for his participation in a violent New Haven street gang, according to US Attorney for CT Vanessa Roberts Avery.

The ATF, FBI, DEA and New Haven Police Department, working with Avery's office, have been investigating "an ongoing gang war between members and associates of the Exit 8 street gang and rival gangs in the Hill section and other areas of the city," a Justice Department news release reads.

The Exit 8 gang is named after the geographic area accessed by exiting Interstate 91 at Exit 8 in New Haven, per investigators. Recently, younger members of Exit 8 are identifying themselves with the word “Honcho,” which is derived from the street name of an Exit 8 member who was murdered on Quinnipiac Avenue in February 2020, Avery said.

"The investigation revealed that Douglas and other members of the Exit 8 gang engaged in drug trafficking, used and shared firearms, and, from 2018 to 2023, committed at least three murders and 16 attempted murders," prosecutors said, adding the Exit 8 members and associates also stole cars and used them "when committing acts of violence."

"Gang members also promoted, coordinated, facilitated, and celebrated their narcotics distribution and acts of violence through text messaging and the use of social media applications and websites including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube," per prosecutors.

"On April 22, Douglas pleaded guilty to conspiracy to engage in a pattern of racketeering activity, and specifically admitted that on June 16, 2018, he and fellow Exit 8 member Kiveon Hyman shot at and attempted to kill a member and associate of a rival gang in the area of Fountain Street, Davis Street, and Lakeview Terrace in New Haven," Avery said. In the shooting, the intended victim’s associate suffered seven gunshot wounds, but survived the attack. Investigators found 15 spent ammunition casings at the scene.

Investigators found two handguns that fired the ammunition casings that were collected at the scene, one seized in March 2019 from a now-dead Exit 8 member. Avery said National Integrated Ballistic Information Network analysis of the second handgun, which was recovered during a New Haven police investigation in January 2020, linked it to eight other shooting incidents in New Haven in 2018, per officials.

Douglas has been detained since Nov. 10, 2022. Hyman pleaded guilty and, on April 1, was sentenced to 78 months in prison.