United States Drug Enforcement Administration

OCT 19 - NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Michael J. Ferguson Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration for New England and Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that Alex Garcia, 38, of Danbury, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Alker Meyer in New Haven to 360 months of imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release, for shooting and killing a Danbury man traveling on I-84 in January 2000.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on January 17, 2000, at approximately 11:02 p.m.., Mark Rebong was discovered in the driver’s seat of an idling vehicle in the vicinity of Exit 2 off of I-84 in Danbury.  Mr. Rebong had been shot once in the head and died as a result of his injuries.  The investigation revealed that Garcia was a member of the Almighty Latin King and Queen (“Latin Kings”).  In late December 1999, there was ongoing dispute in Danbury between the Latin Kings and another criminal gang, the Crips.  On December 28, 1999, the dispute escalated as a result of the shooting of a high-ranking member of the Crips.

On January 17, 2000, Garcia was a passenger in a vehicle traveling westbound on I-84.  The driver of the vehicle, a high-ranking member of the Latin Kings, saw Mark Rebong driving near them on the highway and told Garcia to shoot at Rebong’s vehicle.  Garcia then used an assault rifle to fire two rounds at the vehicle.  As a result, Mark Rebong was killed.  Mark Rebong was neither a member of a gang nor engaged in any criminal activity.

“In a reckless act of brutal violence, this defendant murdered an innocent young man who was driving to work,” said U.S. Attorney Daly.  “I commend the investigators from the Danbury Police, State Police and DEA who never stopped searching for Mark’s killer until he was finally brought to justice.  Hopefully the Rebong family, who showed patience and courage and dignity throughout this ordeal, have found a measure of solace in this result.”

Judge Meyer ordered the 30-year federal sentence to run concurrently with an unrelated 40-year state sentence that Garcia is currently serving.  On June 15, 2016, Garcia pleaded guilty to one count of use of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.

This matter was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Danbury Police Department and Connecticut State Police Western District Major Crime Squad, with assistance from the Connecticut Department of Correction and the Danbury State’s Attorney’s Office.