New Haven resident Robert Smith, also known as "Robbie," age 19, pleaded guilty on Thursday, Sept. 28 to offenses related to the July 2022 armed robbery of a North Haven gas station, according to the US District's Attorney's Office for District of Connecticut.
According to officials, Smith's arrest resulted from an investigation conducted by both the New Haven Police Department and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives into an armed robbery of a Shell Gas Station located at 195 State St. on July 6, 2022.
The investigation eventually resulted in the identification of a suspect who allegedly committed a series of gunpoint robberies and a carjacking in June and July 2022. Authorities also determined that Smith had helped this suspect commit the armed robbery of the Shell gas station, officials said.
Smith pleaded guilty to:
- One count of aiding and abetting Hobbs Act robbery, which carries a maximum prison term of 20 years;
- One count of aiding and abetting the carrying, using, and brandishing of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, which carries a mandatory consecutive prison term of at least seven years.
Smith has been detained since Tuesday, Jan. 3.
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