Feds suspected a CT man of violent gang activity. Then social media helped them make the case.

A member of a violent Connecticut street gang has been sentenced to six and a half years in prison after pleading guilty to a racketeering charge in a case that used evidence from a number of sources, including social media.

Jauwan Edwards, also known as “Yaya,” 26, faced sentencing in federal court in Bridgeport Friday, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut. His prison term will be followed by three years of supervised release, a judge ordered.

The sentencing came after Edwards, in June 2023, pleaded guilty to one count of racketeering conspiracy, federal officials said.

He has been held in custody since July 2021, when authorities searched his Bridgeport residence and found fentanyl, crack cocaine, cocaine packaged for distribution and a loaded Glock handgun with an extended magazine and a laser sight, officials said.

According to authorities, Edwards’ arrest was part of a multi-agency investigation that has targeted several Bridgeport-based gangs “whose members were involved in narcotics trafficking, murder and other acts of violence.” The investigation included the FBI, ATF, DEA, U.S. Marshals Service, Connecticut State Police and the Bridgeport Police Department.

Edwards 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, and the PT Barnum gang,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement.

“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.”

According to authorities, an analysis of numerous social media posts and text messages showed that Edwards possessed firearms and sold a variety of drugs that included fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, crack, Percocet pills and marijuana.

Federal officials said Edwards also participated with other O.N.E. members in the theft and possession of stolen vehicles, including a Lexus Rx350 that was stolen from Rye, New York, and used in a homicide.

In early December 2019, O.N.E. members were involved in multiple incidents in Bridgeport involving shots that were fired.

In one of these incidents, the mother of two East End gang members was shot outside of her Bridgeport home. In another, on Dec. 8, 2019, O.N.E. members used the stolen Lexus in a shooting incident at the P.T. Barnum Housing Complex and then drove it to Newfield Avenue in Bridgeport, which was considered the turf of the East End/East Side gang, where they shot and killed 18-year-old Ty’Quess Moore, also known as “Breezo,” officials said.

According to federal officials, about 47 members and associates of the East End, O.N.E. and the GHB/Hotz gangs have been convicted of federal offenses stemming from this investigation. The lengthy investigation has also led to authorities solving eight murders and about 20 attempted murders.