BRIDGEPORT, CT – Robert Smith, also known as “Robbie,” a 20-year-old from New Haven, was sentenced today to 84 months in federal prison for his involvement in the armed robbery of a North Haven gas station and subsequent carjacking in 2022. U.S. District Judge Kari A. Dooley also mandated three years of supervised release following his prison term.
Court documents reveal that Smith played a significant role in a crime spree orchestrated by Christian Borrero, which included multiple gunpoint robberies and a carjacking during late June and early July 2022. Specifically, on July 6, 2022, Smith assisted in the armed robbery at a Shell Gas Station at 195 State Street in North Haven. Post-robbery, he drove Borrero and a juvenile accomplice to Meriden, where they carjacked a woman in her driveway.
Smith has been in custody since January 3, 2023, and pleaded guilty on September 28, 2023, to aiding and abetting Hobbs Act robbery and aiding and abetting the use of a firearm during a violent crime.
His co-defendant, Borrero, received a 14-year prison sentence on April 1, 2024, after also pleading guilty to related charges.
The extensive investigation leading to these convictions was carried out by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), with cooperation from multiple local police departments including New Haven, East Haven, West Haven, Ansonia, and North Haven. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nathaniel J. Gentile and Sean P. Mahard prosecuted the case.
U.S. Attorney Avery expressed gratitude towards the State’s Attorneys of the Judicial Districts of New Haven and Ansonia/Milford for their collaborative efforts in this case, which is part of the broader Project Safe Neighborhoods initiative aimed at reducing violent crime.
