BRIDGEPORT, CT – Christian Borrero, 20, of New Haven, will spend the next 14 years in federal prison for terrorizing convenience store clerks and a vehicle owner across several Connecticut towns in the summer of 2022. U.S. District Judge Kari A. Dooley handed down the 168-month sentence, followed by five years of supervised release, on Monday.
The crime spree began June 29th, 2022, with an armed robbery at the Citgo Gas Station on Foxon Road in East Haven. Borrero then escalated his brazen attacks, culminating in a carjacking followed by a robbery at a 7-Eleven on Campbell Avenue in West Haven on July 3rd. Just days later, on July 7th, he hit another gas station, the Xpress Mart on Wakelee Avenue in Ansonia.
Federal investigators, led by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and local police departments in New Haven, East Haven, West Haven, Ansonia, and North Haven, pieced together the evidence linking Borrero to all three robberies. The investigation also revealed that on July 6th, Borrero teamed up with Robert Smith to rob a Shell Gas Station on State Street in North Haven.
Borrero has been locked up since July 13, 2022, awaiting the outcome of the case. He pleaded guilty on January 3, 2024, to two counts of carrying, using, and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. Smith, Borrero’s accomplice, has already admitted guilt to aiding and abetting both a Hobbs Act robbery and the firearm charges and is awaiting his own sentencing.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathaniel J. Gentile prosecuted the case, with U.S. Attorney Vanessa Roberts Avery lauding the cooperation of state’s attorneys from the Judicial Districts of New Haven and Ansonia/Milford. The prosecution is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a Department of Justice initiative aimed at reducing violent crime by focusing on the most dangerous offenders and supporting local prevention programs.
This case is another example of the ATF’s continued focus on violent crime and firearms offenses. While Borrero will spend over a decade behind bars, Smith’s sentencing will likely follow, bringing another perpetrator to justice for the fear and disruption they caused across multiple Connecticut communities during that summer of 2022. The investigation remains a testament to the effectiveness of combined federal, state, and local law enforcement efforts.
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Key Facts
- Agency: ATF
- Category: Weapons|Violent Crime|Organized Crime
- Source: Official Press Release
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