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Danbury Gang Member Gets 30 Years In Prison For Murder Of Driver On I-84

DANBURY, Conn. -- A 38-year-old Danbury man was sentenced Wednesday to 30 years in federal prison for shooting and killing a Newtown man who was driving to work on I-84 in Danbury in January 2000, prosecutors said.

Mark Rebong of Newtown was killed while driving on I-84 in Danbury in 2000.

Mark Rebong of Newtown was killed while driving on I-84 in Danbury in 2000.

Photo Credit: State Of Connecticut

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Alker Meyer in New Haven also sentenced Alex Garcia to five years of supervised release after his prison term. Garcia had pleaded guilty June 15 to one count of using a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.

 

According to court documents and statements made in court, at 11:02 p.m. Jan. 17, 2000, Mark Rebong of Newtown was discovered in the driver’s seat of his idling vehicle in the vicinity of Exit 2 of westbound I-84 in Danbury.

Rebong, who was on his way to the Danbury Hilton, where he worked as a night auditor, had been shot once in the head. He died as a result of his injuries. No arrest was made in the case for over 16 years. 

The investigation found that Garcia was a member of the Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation – also known as the Latin Kings – which was involved in an ongoing dispute in Danbury with the Crips in late December 1999.

On Dec. 28, 1999, the dispute escalated as a result of the shooting of a high-ranking member of the Crips.

On Jan. 17, 2000, Garcia was a passenger in a vehicle traveling west on I-84. The driver of the vehicle, a high-ranking member of the Kings, saw Rebong driving near them on the highway and told Garcia to shoot at Rebong’s vehicle.

Garcia then used an assault rifle to fire two rounds at the vehicle, killing Rebong.

Rebong was neither a member of a gang, nor engaged in any criminal activity.

“In a reckless act of brutal violence, this defendant murdered an innocent young man who was driving to work,” said U.S. Attorney for Connecticut Deirdre M. 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.”

Garcia’s 30-year federal prison sentence will run concurrently with an unrelated 40-year state sentence that he is currently serving.

The case was investigated by the DEA, Danbury Police Department and Connecticut State Police Western District Major Crime Squad, with assistance from the Connecticut Department of Correction and the Danbury State’s Attorney’s Office.

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