Feds: Gang member pleads guilty to charge stemming from 2018 homicide

BRIDGEPORT — An alleged city gang member pleaded guilty this week to a federal racketeering charge in connection with the 2018 killing of Len Allen Smith, which prosecutors say was a case of mistaken identity.

Ta’Ron “250” Pharr, 21, pleaded guilty Tuesday before Judge Kari A. Dooley in U.S. District Court in Bridgeport to engaging in a pattern of racketeering activity. The charge carries a maximum term of 20 years in prison.

Pharr has been detained since July 7 of last year.

The charge stems from an investigation into Smith’s homicide in the city’s East End on Aug. 13, 2018, prosecutors said.

Smith, a 25-year-old who lived on Fourth Street, was fatally shot while sitting in the front passenger seat of a car parked outside Sunshine Deli on Union Avenue. A woman in the backseat was shot in the head and critically injured, according to authorities.

This case comes amid a joint federal and local investigation into what prosecutors called “multiple Bridgeport-based gangs whose members are involved in narcotics trafficking, murder and other acts of violence.”

Pharr was identified by authorities as a member of the Original North End (ONE), a gang based in the Trumbull Gardens area. Prosecutors said the group committed “acts of violence” against rival gangs, including the East End gang, the East Side gang and the PT Barnum gang.

Authorities said ONE members are also accused of robbing drug dealers, selling narcotics, laundering narcotics proceeds and stealing cars from Connecticut and surrounding states to commit their alleged crimes.

On Aug. 8, 2018, Pharr and other members of ONE stole a white Jeep Grand Cherokee from Newburgh, N.Y., and drove it back to the city.

During the early morning hours of Aug. 13, 2018, members of the ONE gang drove the stolen Jeep to Union Avenue, where prosecutors said “they shot and killed Len Smith.” Prosecutors said the gang members mistook Smith for a rival East End gang member.

The Jeep was dumped at Indian Wells State Park in Shelton and burned in an attempt to destroy evidence of the murder, according to prosecutors.

While no one has been charged with murder in Smith’s death, three alleged ONE members — identified by prosecutors last year as Henry Floy, Shakale Brantley and Antoine Sistrunk — were charged in the case with accessory after the fact, according to officials.

Federal authorities said the investigation is ongoing.