A man facing drug and gun charges in Maine has been indicted by a federal grand jury in New Haven, Connecticut, on murder, racketeering and other charges in connection with gang activity there, according to federal officials.
Jeffrey “Tall Man” or “Fresh” Benton, 20, formerly of New Haven, Connecticut, was indicted Wednesday along with five other members of the gang Red Side Guerilla Brims, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in Connecticut.
Members and associates of the gang are accused of killing six people and attempting to kill four others in 2011 and early 2012.
Benton is awaiting trial in Maine on drug conspiracy and gun conspiracy charges between January 2010 and August 2013, according to a press release issued Thursday. He and 10 others were indicted earlier this year by a federal grand jury in Bangor.
The defendants in the Maine case were accused of distributing crack cocaine in the Bangor area, illegally purchasing more than 20 guns and transporting them and the proceeds from sales to New Haven.
Information about whether the guns used in the Connecticut murders came from Maine has not been made public in court documents, according to Tom Carson, public information officer for the U.S. attorney’s office in New Haven.
Benton has been in federal custody since May 2012. He was sentenced in November in federal court in New Haven to nine years in prison on a drug conspiracy charge.
He is tentatively scheduled to be tried on the Maine charges in November.
If convicted of the charges in Maine, Benton faces between 10 years and life in prison and a fine of up to $10 million. On the Connecticut charges, he faces a mandatory life sentence if convicted of committing a violent crime in aid of racketeering in connection with the murder charges.