Crime & Safety

Danbury Latin King Gets 30 Years for Killing Motorist on I-84

A member of the "Latin Kings" was sentenced to 30 years in prison for shooting and killing a man in the head on I-84 in Danbury.

DANBURY, CT — A Danbury man who is a known member of the Latin Kings gang was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Alker Meyer in New Haven to 360 months of imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release, for shooting and killing a Danbury man traveling on I-84 in January 2000, according to Deirdre M. Daly, U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut.

Alex Garcia, 38, of Danbury, was involved in a dispute in late December 1999 between the Latin Kings and another criminal gang, the Crips, according to Daly, and on Dec. 28, 1999, the dispute escalated as a result of the shooting of a high-ranking member of the Crips.

Officials said that on Jan. 17, 2000, Garcia was a passenger in a vehicle a car driven by on I-84 by a high-ranking member of the Latin Kings, who saw Mark Rebong driving near them. Prosecutors said that Garcia then used an assault rifle to fire two rounds at the vehicle and, as a result, Mark Rebong was killed. Daly said Mark Rebong was neither a member of a gang nor engaged in any criminal activity.

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“In a reckless act of brutal violence, this defendant murdered an innocent young man who was driving to work,” said U.S. Attorney Daly. “I commend the investigators from the Danbury Police, State Police and DEA who never stopped searching for Mark’s killer until he was finally brought to justice. Hopefully the Rebong family, who showed patience and courage and dignity throughout this ordeal, have found a measure of solace in this result.”

Judge Meyer ordered the 30-year federal sentence to run concurrently with an unrelated 40-year state sentence that Garcia is currently serving. On June 15, 2016, he pleaded guilty to one count of use of a firearm during, and in relation to, a crime of violence.

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