Four Norwalk Men Charged with Committing Kidnapping in Bridgeport

David X. Sullivan, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut; Joseph T. Corradino, State’s Attorney for the Bridgeport Judicial District; P.J. O’Brien, Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Bryan DiGirolamo, Acting Special Agent in Charge, ATF Boston Field Division; Bridgeport Police Chief Roderick Porter; and Norwalk Police Chief James Walsh today announced that SAMUEL BRANCH, also known as “Sosa,” 27; GIOVANNI HUDSON, 34; DONTAE SCULLARK, 22; and WILLIAM HINTON, 22, all of Norwalk, have been federally charged for their alleged involvement in a kidnapping and carjacking in August 2023.

As alleged in the indictment, Branch, Hudson, Scullark, and Hinton conspired to kidnap a victim in Bridgeport.  In the evening of August 2 and morning of August 3, 2023, the four defendants, traveling together in an SUV, surveilled the victim as he drove to a restaurant on Boston Avenue, parked his Mercedes Benz, and entered the restaurant.  Hudson, in possession of a handgun with an extended magazine, then entered the back seat of the Mercedes Benz and laid in wait for the victim.  When the victim entered his car, Hudson placed the gun to the victim’s head and instructed him to drive.  Branch, Scullark, and Hinton followed in the SUV.  After Hudson told the victim to pull over, at least one of the co-conspirators climbed into the Mercedes Benz and also threatened the victim at gunpoint.  The co-conspirators stole cash, credit cards, jewelry, a cell phone, and other items from the victim and demanded that the victim provide access to his digital bank on his cell phone.  They then let the victim out of the Mercedes Benz, took the vehicle, and drove it and the SUV away.

On September 4, 2025, a grand jury in Bridgeport returned a four-count indictment charging Branch, Hudson, Scullark, and Hinton with conspiracy to commit kidnapping, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of life.  The indictment also charges Branch, Hudson, and Scullark with kidnapping, which carries a maximum term of imprisonment of life, and with carjacking, which carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 15 years.  Hudson is also charged with carrying, using, and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, an offense that mandatory consecutive term of imprisonment of at least seven years.

Scullark and Hinton were arrested on September 5, 2025, and are currently detained.  Branch and Hudson, who are currently in state custody, are scheduled to be arraigned today.

Branch is also charged in an unrelated indictment, returned in March 2025, with drug distribution and firearm possession offenses.  He has been detained since September 2023.

U.S. Attorney Sullivan stressed that an indictment is not evidence of guilt.  Charges are only allegations, and each defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This matter is being investigated by the FBI’s Safe Streets and Violent Crimes Task Forces, ATF, the Bridgeport Police Department, and the Norwalk Police Department, with the assistance of the Connecticut Forensic Science Laboratory.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Patricia Stolfi Collins and Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney Michael A. DeJoseph who is cross designated as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in this matter.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.  Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).