Jalania Pantano, 28, of Middletown, was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison for robbing a West Hartford bank last year.
According to court documents, on July 20, 2022, Pantano and her boyfriend, Gino Rizzo, entered the People’s United Bank located inside the Stop & Shop at 176 Newington Road in West Hartford and presented to two different tellers notes stating ‘Give us the money with no dye packs or GPS.’
The tellers provided Pantano and Rizzo with approximately $1,599 in cash and they exited the bank and supermarket.
This was not Pantano’s only run-in with the law. Rizzo, using notes demanding cash, had previously robbed People’s United Bank branches located in Stop & Shop supermarkets in Glastonbury on July 16, 2022, and in Newington on July 18, 2022.
Rizzo was arrested on July 21, 2022, and Pantano was arrested on August 30, 2022. On April 11, 2023, while on pre-trial release, Pantano and Rizzo each disconnected their GPS electronic monitoring bracelets and absconded from their court-mandated rehabilitation centers.
Pantano has been detained since her rearrest on May 24, 2023. On August 23, 2023, she pleaded guilty to one count of bank robbery.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Middletown, Glastonbury, Newington, and West Hartford Police Departments. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stephanie T. Levick and Robert S. Dearington.
Related Federal Cases
- FRANCESCO PENSIERO, Bank Robbery, Connecticut 2020 · Washington
- Juan Cruz, Six-Bank Robbery Spree, CT 2024 · Connecticut
- Scott Taylor, Bank Robbery, CT 2024 · Connecticut
- Robert Abel, Bank Robbery, CT 2017 · Connecticut
- Daniel Louis Jackson, Armed Bank Robbery, IA 2016 · Connecticut
Key Facts
- State: Connecticut
- Category: Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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