PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WHDH) - A judge sentenced a Providence man to 14 years in state prison and 20 years of parole in connection with a May 2021 gang-related shooting that wounded nine people.
“While the Carolina Ave. shooting presents as an egregious example of gun violence in Rhode Island, it shares key characteristics that we have seen in many other shooting incidents since then: the wide availability of illegal guns, the number of rounds being fired, and the use in many instances of high-capacity magazines and ghost guns,” said Attorney General Peter Neronha. “The long sentence imposed by the court here should send a strong message that gun violence will bring the most serious consequences.”
On May 13, 2021, Ricardo Cosme Tejada, 21, and three co-defendants shot and wounded members of a rival gang outside a home on Carolina Avenue. The AG’s office said that Tejada, George Rios, Reynaldo Rivera and Jordanny Britto were members of the “Get Money Family” gang, and shot at members of the “Lakeside” gang, who were on the front porch of the home.
Four people on the porch were wounded in the gunfire, including a juvenile. The Lakeside members returned fire, injuring the four Get Money Family members. The group then jumped back into their truck to flee, ending up at Rhode Island Hospital for their injuries, as did the injured Lakeside members.
Investigators later collected 51 spent shell casings from multiple guns, as well as bullets that went into a home across the street. No one in that home was injured.
Investigators also executed a search warrant at the home and seized more than 500 rounds of ammunition, 12 pistol and rifle magazines and several firearms. They also seized marijuana, THC and Psilosin.
Tejada plead guilty to assault with a dangerous weapon with a Criminal Street Gang Enhancement; discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence, resulting in injury; conspiracy to commit assault with a dangerous weapon with a Criminal Street Gang Enhancement; conspiracy to discharge a firearm during a crime of violence; carrying a pistol without a license; and conspiracy to carry a pistol without a license.
Separately, he entered a guilty plea for possession of a ghost gun stemming from an April 2021 arrest.
The co-defendants also pleaded guilty and received significant sentences in June.
(Copyright (c) 2024 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)