‘King Tego’ Guilty in New Bedford Shots-Fired Incident

A member of the New Bedford Chapter of the Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation pleaded guilty Wednesday to being a felon in possession of a firearm following a federal investigation into a shooting incident in New Bedford.

Alexander Pizarro, also known as “King Tego,” 28, pleaded guilty before U.S. Senior District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock and a sentencing hearing is set for Jan. 19.

On April 19, New Bedford police responded to a report of seven shots fired near a residence on Clark Street. During the response, police heard a thud and found a tan and black Taurus 9mm firearm in a suitcase in a nearby alleyway. Police found Pizarro hiding in a nearby apartment.

While executing a search warrant on Pizarro's cell phone, investigators found a photograph of Pizarro in the apartment holding what appeared to be the firearm recovered from Clark Street. The photo was taken around two hours before the shots-fired incident. Through ballistics comparison, the seized firearm was matched to the recovered shell casings, according to a press release from the Office of Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Andrew E. Lelling.

Due to prior convictions, Pizarro was prohibited by law from possessing firearms.  At the time of the shooting incident, Pizarro was on probation for a 2017 firearms conviction in Rhode Island. Pizarro was known to investigators to be a member of the New Bedford Chapter of the Latin Kings, and had recently posted incriminating photos to his SnapChat account, 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.

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 is prosecuting the case.

Notably, Pizarro was not one of 62 reputed Latin Kings members or associates named in the sweeping Operation Throne Down indictment, where hundreds of federal agents conducted raids across New England on a December morning in 2019. New Bedford was a prime focus of that four-year undercover investigation. Currently, around 16 alleged gang members named in that indictment have pleaded guilty to RICO charges.