New Bedford Member of the Latin Kings Sentenced for Being a Felon in Possession of a Firearm

 BOSTON – A member of the New Bedford Chapter of the Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation was sentenced today for 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, was sentenced by U.S. Senior District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock to 42 months in prison and three years of supervised release. In September 2020, Pizarro pleaded guilty to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

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.

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 prosecuted 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 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.