PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — Three Providence men are off to prison for a gang-related shootout in the capital city that left nine people wounded.
George Rios, 19, Reynaldo Rivera, 20, and Jordanny Britto, 21, pleaded guilty to felony charges stemming from their involvement in the May 2021 incident, according to the office of Attorney General Peter Neronha.
Prosecutors said the three men drove to a home on Carolina Avenue, got out of their vehicle and opened fire at members of a rival gang who were on the front porch, injuring four people.
At least two people, including a juvenile, returned fire, wounding the three men who then drove themselves to the hospital, prosecutors said.
At the scene, police recovered 52 shell casings of various sizes, and inside the home they found a number of firearms, including ghost guns and guns with their serial numbers removed.
Rios, Rivera and Britto were each charged with assault with a dangerous weapon and conspiracy to commit assault with a dangerous weapon, both with a criminal gang enhancement, along with discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence resulting in injury, 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.
Rios and Britto were sentenced to 32 years in prison with 12 to serve and 20 suspended with probation, while Rivera was sentenced to 30 years in prison with 10 to serve and 20 suspended with probation.
The AG’s office said a warrant was issued last week for co-defendant Ricardo Cosme Tejada, 21, after he failed to appear for a scheduled court date.
Cases against two other men involved in the incident — Daniel Carides, 26, and David Carides Jr., 25 — are still pending at this time, according to the AG’s office.
“The shootings we have seen in Providence over the last several months have been driven by several things: the wide availability of illegal guns, the number of rounds being fired and the use in many instances of high-capacity magazines, and people too willing to resolve often inconsequential disputes at the point of a gun,” Neronha said in a statement.
“These three individuals turned a peaceful Providence neighborhood into their own personal shooting range,” he added. “Such conduct is incredibly dangerous, far too often deadly, and remains a principal focus of our prosecutorial resources. The long sentences imposed by the court here should send a strong message that gun violence will bring the most serious consequences.”