Feds: Latin King Member Charged in New Bedford Shooting Incident

A member of the New Bedford Chapter of the Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation is charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm following a shots-fired incident in New Bedford, federal prosecutors announced today.

Alexander Dwin Pizarro, 28, known as "King Tego," was charged Tuesday with one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Pizarro, now in custody in Rhode Island, will make his initial appearance in federal court at a later date, according to a media release from Andrew E. Lelling, U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts.

On April 19, 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, Lelling's office said. Based on information received from a 911 caller, police days later located Pizarro, who at the time lived at 36 Myrtle St., Apt. 2.

After searching his cell phone, investigators say they located a photograph of Pizarro holding what appeared to be the firearm recovered from Clark Street. The photograph was allegedly 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, the media release stated.

Pizarro was known to investigators as a member of the New Bedford Chapter of the Latin Kings, and had recently posted pictures to Snap Chat showing himself holding firearms, according to the federal prosecutors.

Due to prior criminal convictions, Pizarro is prohibited from possessing firearms. At the time of the April shooting incident in New Bedford, he was on probation for a 2017 firearms case in Rhode Island, Lelling's office said.

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.

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 linking all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and increase neighborhood safety, according to Lelling. 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, the media release said.