Press Release from United States Attorney, District of Connecticut; U.S. Department of Justice

On June 28, Robert “Robbie” Smith, 20, of New Haven, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Kari A. Dooley in Bridgeport to 84 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for offenses related to his role in the gunpoint robbery of a North Haven gas station. Smith’s sentencing was announced by Vanessa Roberts Avery, the United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut.

According to court documents and statements made in court, an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the New Haven Police Department revealed that Christian Borrero of New Haven committed a series of gunpoint robberies and a carjacking in late June and early July 2022. On July 6, 2022, Smith assisted Borrero’s commission of an armed robbery of a Shell Gas Station located at 195 State Street in North Haven. After the robbery, Smith drove Borrero and a juvenile, who also participated in the robbery, to Meriden, where they stole a car from a woman who was parked in her driveway.

Smith has been detained since Jan. 3, 2023. 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.

Borrero pleaded guilty to related charges and, on April 1, 2024, was sentenced to 14 years of imprisonment.

This matter was investigated by the ATF with the assistance of the New Haven, East Haven, West Haven, Ansonia, and North Haven police departments. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nathaniel J. Gentile and Sean P. Mahard.

U.S. Attorney Avery thanks the state’s attorneys for the Judicial Districts of New Haven and Ansonia/Milford for their cooperation in investigating and prosecuting this matter.

This prosecution is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce gun violence and other violent crime and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. In May 2021, the Justice Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy, strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations which help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results. For more information about PSN, please visit www.justice.gov/psn.