James Graham, known as "Little Cuz," has been sentenced to 57 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release for obstructing justice. This sentencing is linked to his involvement with the 960 gang, a violent street gang based in Waterbury. U.S. District Judge Kari A. Dooley delivered the sentence in Bridgeport.
The announcement was made by Marc H. Silverman, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut; Maureen T. Platt, State’s Attorney for the Waterbury Judicial District; Anish Shukla, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven Division of the FBI; James Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge of ATF Boston Field Division; and Waterbury Police Chief Fernando C. Spagnolo.
Investigations into drug trafficking and violence in Waterbury led to charges against Graham and 15 other members of the 960 gang. The charges included racketeering, narcotics trafficking, firearm possession, murder, attempted murder and assault, and obstruction of justice offenses.
An incident on November 22, 2017 involved 960 members Zaekwon McDaniel, Tahjay Love, and Malik Bayon shooting at Clarence Lewis and Antonio Santos in a car at a restaurant in Waterbury. Lewis crashed while fleeing and both he and Santos died at the scene. In October 2019, Graham and Love assaulted another inmate they suspected had informed law enforcement about Love's involvement in this shooting.
A jury found Graham guilty on February 14, 2024 for obstruction of justice related to these events. Love, McDaniel, and Bayon were also found guilty but are awaiting sentencing.
Graham is currently serving a state sentence of 52 years for murder-related charges from an incident involving an 18-year-old victim in Hamden on November 13, 2017. His federal sentence will run concurrently with this state sentence.
The investigation was conducted by multiple agencies including the FBI’s Northern Connecticut Gang Task Force and several local police departments with prosecution handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Geoffrey M. Stone, John T. Pierpont Jr., Natasha M. Freismuth along with cross-designated state attorneys Don E. Therkildesen Jr., Alexandra Arroyo.
This case falls under Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) which aims to reduce gun violence through community collaboration with law enforcement agencies as well as Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) that target criminal organizations globally using integrated approaches across jurisdictions.
