Waterbury’s notorious 960 Gang, led by locally known rapper Yung Gap, has been dismantled after a sweeping federal investigation that resulted in multiple life sentences. Federal prosecutors confirmed that 15 members of the violent street gang were arrested and convicted, marking the end of what authorities described as a “reign of terror” that plagued the city for years.

The gang’s leader, Zaekwon McDaniel, also known as “Gap” or “Yung Gap,” gained local fame through his short-lived rap career. His YouTube videos—amassing more than a million total views, with his hit Trip 2 The Bank—often glorified guns, violence, and drug culture. But behind the lyrics was a brutal reality: drive-by shootings, drug trafficking, and deadly violence that tore through Waterbury neighborhoods.

McDaniel, 27, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Kari A. Dooley in Bridgeport to life in prison plus a mandatory 10-year consecutive term for crimes tied to his leadership of the 960 gang. His co-defendant, Malik Bayon, known on the streets as “Pop” or “Dirt,” received a life sentence plus five years for his role in the same violent enterprise.

The sentences were announced by U.S. Attorney David X. Sullivan, State’s Attorney Maureen T. Platt, FBI Special Agent in Charge P.J. O’Brien, ATF Acting Special Agent in Charge Bryan DiGirolamo, and Waterbury Police Chief Fernando C. Spagnolo. Officials said the takedown marks a major victory in the ongoing effort to curb gang violence and drug trafficking in Connecticut.

The FBI, ATF, and Waterbury Police began investigating the 960 gang as part of a larger initiative to address violent crime in the city. A 36-count federal indictment, unsealed on September 14, 2021, charged McDaniel, Bayon, and 14 other members with crimes including racketeering, murder, attempted murder, assault, firearm possession, narcotics trafficking, and obstruction of justice.

According to evidence presented in court, the gang’s violence escalated in late 2017. On October 31, 960 members carried out a drive-by shooting near Porter Street and Bank Street targeting a rival gang. Seventeen shell casings from four different firearms were recovered at the scene, and McDaniel’s DNA was later found on the steering wheel of the getaway car.

Just weeks later, on November 22, 2017, McDaniel, Bayon, and associate Tahjay Love opened fire on two men, Clarence Lewis and Antonio Santos, who were sitting in a car outside a Waterbury restaurant. As Lewis tried to escape, his vehicle crashed into a house at the intersection of Wolcott Street and Dallas Avenue. Both men—aged 22 and 20—were killed instantly. Ballistics tied the firearms used in that attack to the earlier October shooting, and McDaniel’s DNA was found on a gun magazine left at the scene.

On December 29, 2017, McDaniel and Bayon struck again—this time shooting and wounding the father of a rival gang member as he took out his trash. Investigators discovered that moments before the shooting, several 960 members had recorded themselves on video wearing masks outside the victim’s home.

Prosecutors said that the gang frequently used music videos to promote their image and intimidate rivals, flaunting weapons and boasting about violent acts that paralleled real-life crimes. These videos, many featuring McDaniel as Yung Gap, served as both recruitment tools and coded confessions of their criminal activity.

McDaniel was arrested on January 3, 2018, and Bayon was taken into custody on September 16, 2021, while attempting to flush fentanyl down a toilet. A search of Bayon’s residence uncovered a firearm, extended magazines, and ammunition.

In February 2024, a jury found McDaniel, Bayon, and Love guilty of racketeering conspiracy, murder under the Violent Crimes in Aid of Racketeering (VCAR) statute, and causing deaths through the use of firearms. McDaniel was also convicted of attempted murder and assault with a dangerous weapon, while Bayon was additionally found guilty of drug trafficking and firearm possession in furtherance of that activity. Love was convicted of obstruction of justice and awaits sentencing.

The investigation was conducted by the FBI’s Northern Connecticut Gang Task Force, the Waterbury Police Department, the ATF, and the U.S. Marshals Service, with assistance from multiple local and state agencies, including police departments in Southington, Watertown, and New Milford, as well as the Connecticut State Police and Department of Correction.

The prosecution was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Geoffrey M. Stone, John T. Pierpont Jr., and Natasha M. Freismuth, together with Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney Don E. Therkildesen Jr. and Deputy Assistant State’s Attorney Alexandra Arroyo, who were cross-designated as Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys in the case.

Officials said the case was part of the Justice Department’s Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) and Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) programs—federal initiatives aimed at dismantling violent criminal networks.

For Waterbury residents, the collapse of the 960 gang represents not just the end of a violent era but also a warning of how street fame and organized crime can intertwine. The fall of Yung Gap—a rapper who once turned his street life into lyrics—now stands as a symbol of the city’s long fight to reclaim its streets from violence.

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