NEW HAVEN, Conn. — A federal grand jury in Hartford has returned an indictment charging four Bridgeport men with robbery and firearm offenses related to gunpoint robberies of several retail stores and an Amazon delivery truck, according to a release on Friday from the U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut.
Elijah Raffington, 21; Rajonne ‘Ray Ray’ Blake, 25; Shasson Daniels, 20; and Mickyeem Profit are all named in the indictment, which was returned under seal on July 11, the release said.
The indictment charges that on Dec. 15, 2022, Raffington and Profit robbed Omega Deli on Maplewood Avenue in Bridgeport at gunpoint.
On Dec. 21, 2022, Raffington, Daniels and Profit allegedly robbed Milford Convenience & Tobacco at gunpoint at the store’s Boston Post Road location in Milford, according to the release.
On Dec. 23, 2022, according to the indictment’s allegations, Raffington, Daniels, Blake, Profit and another individual committed a gunpoint robbery of an Amazon delivery truck and stole merchandise in Bridgeport.
That same day, Raffington, Daniels and Profit allegedly robbed the Smoke Shop on Boston Avenue in Bridgeport at gunpoint, the release said.
Then, on Jan. 2, 2023, Raffington, Daniels and Blake are accused of committing a gunpoint robbery of the Cumberland Farms on West Broad Street in Stratford.
“The six-count indictment charges each defendant with multiple counts of interference with commerce by robbery – Hobbs Act robbery, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years on each count,” the release said.
Additionally, according to prosecutors, Daniels and Profit are charged with carrying, using and brandishing a gun during and in relation to a crime of violence, while Raffington and Blake are charged with aiding and abetting in the same. That offense carries a mandatory minimum term of seven years in prison and a maximum term of life imprisonment.
The release said the indictment was unsealed on Aug. 1, after Blake was arrested; Raffington, Daniels and Profit were already in state custody. Each defendant was arraigned in New Haven federal court and entered pleas of not guilty before being detained.
The FBI, the Bridgeport Police Department, the Stratford Police Department, and the Milford Police Department conducted the investigation.
The case is being prosecuted through Project Safe Neighborhoods, which features a collaboration between all levels of law enforcement and the communities they protect to lessen gun violence and other violent crime while making neighborhoods safer for everybody.
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Dalton Zbierski is a digital content producer and writer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dzbierski@FOX61.com.
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