Violent Bridgeport Gang Member Sentenced to 40 Years in Federal Prison

JOSHUA GILBERT, also known as “Lor Heavy,” 24, of Bridgeport, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Kari A. Dooley in Bridgeport to 480 months of imprisonment and three years of supervised release for his involvement in a violent Bridgeport street gang.

Today’s announcement was made was made by David X. Sullivan, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut; Joseph T. Corradino, State’s Attorney for the Fairfield Judicial District; Bridgeport Police Chief Roderick Porter; 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; Jarod Forget, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration for New England; and Acting Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal John Iverson.

According to court documents and statements made in court, the FBI, ATF, DEA, U.S. Marshals Service, Connecticut State Police and Bridgeport Police have been investigating multiple Bridgeport-based gangs whose members are involved in narcotics trafficking, murder, and other acts of violence.  Gilbert was a member of the Original North End (“O.N.E.”), a gang based in the Trumbull Gardens area of Bridgeport that committed acts of violence against rival gangs, including the East End gang, the East Side gang, a West End gang, and the PT Barnum gang.  O.N.E. members also robbed drug dealers, customers, and others, sold narcotics, and stole cars from inside and outside Connecticut, often using the cars to commit crimes.  They frequently used social media to promote and coordinate their criminal activities.

In November 2019, O.N.E. members stole a Lexus Rx350 from Rye, New York.  In early December 2019, O.N.E. members were involved in multiple shots-fired incidents in Bridgeport.  In one incident, the mother of rival gang members was shot outside of her Bridgeport home.  In another incident, on December 8, 2019, O.N.E. members used the stolen Lexus in a shooting incident at the P.T. Barnum Housing Complex, damaging several cars, and then drove it to Newfield Avenue in Bridgeport where Gilbert and other O.N.E. members shot and killed Ty’Quess Moore, also known as “Breezo,” 18.

Gilbert and other O.N.E. members posted videos to social media in which they and others brandished firearms, celebrated violent gang culture, and referenced rivals who were killed.

Gilbert has been detained since his arrest on July 19, 2021.  On November 21, 2023, a jury found him guilty of racketeering conspiracy.

Approximately 47 members and associates of multiple Bridgeport-based gangs were convicted of federal offenses stemming from this investigation, which solved eight murders and approximately 20 attempted murders.

This investigation was conducted by the FBI’s Safe Streets and Violent Crimes Task Forces, ATF, DEA, U.S. Marshals Service, Bridgeport Police Department, Connecticut State Police and the Bridgeport State’s Attorney’s Office, with the assistance of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Connecticut Forensic Science Laboratory, and the police departments from Norwalk, Stamford, Fairfield, Stratford, Ansonia, Monroe, Waterbury, Naugatuck, Eastchester (N.Y.), Rye (N.Y.), and Newburgh (N.Y.). The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Karen L. Peck, Jocelyn C. Kaoutzanis, Stephanie T. Levick, and Rahul Kale.

This prosecution is a part of the Justice’s Department’s Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), Project Longevity and Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) programs.