BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — A young man from New Haven was sentenced to seven years in Bridgeport on Friday for offenses stemming from his involvement in the gunpoint robbery of a North Haven gas station in 2022, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut.
Robert “Robbie” Smith, 20, has been detained since Jan. 3, 2023, and on Sept. 28, 2023, he pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting Hobbs Act robbery and aiding and abetting the carrying, using and brandishing of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, prosecutors said.
According to prosecutors, an investigation by the ATF and New Haven police discovered that Christian Borrero of New Haven committed several gunpoint robberies and a carjacking in late June and early July 2022.
Furthermore, prosecutors said that, on July 6, 2022, Smith helped Borrero rob a Shell Gas Station on State Street in North Haven. After the robbery, Smith drove Borrero and a teenager, who participated in the robbery, to Meriden, where they stole a car from a woman who was parked in her driveway, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors said Borrero pleaded guilty to related charges on April 1 and was sentenced to 14 years in prison. Smith’s sentence is followed by three years of supervised release.
Police departments from New Haven, East Haven, West Haven, Ansonia and North Haven all participated in the investigation that was led by the ATF. The prosecution is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, which brings together law enforcement agencies at all levels and the communities they serve to reduce gun violence and other crime, making neighborhoods safer.
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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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