Robert Smith, Gas Station Robbery, North Haven CT, 2023

NORTH HAVEN, CT – A 19-year-old New Haven resident, Robert Smith, also known as “Robbie,” has confessed to aiding in the brazen, gunpoint robbery of a North Haven Shell gas station last summer. Smith pleaded guilty today in Bridgeport before U.S. District Judge Kari A. Dooley, admitting his involvement in the July 6, 2022, heist at the station located on State Street.

Federal investigators from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), alongside the New Haven Police Department, zeroed in on Smith as an accomplice to a string of violent crimes that plagued the area in late June and early July 2022. The investigation revealed that Smith wasn’t acting alone, assisting another individual allegedly responsible for a series of gunpoint robberies and a carjacking. Details of the primary perpetrator’s identity were not released at press time.

Smith’s guilty plea centers around one count of aiding and abetting Hobbs Act robbery, a federal charge that carries a hefty maximum sentence of 20 years behind bars. But the penalties don’t stop there. He also pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting the carrying, using, and brandishing of a firearm during the commission of a violent crime. This carries a mandatory consecutive sentence of at least seven years – meaning it will be tacked onto any sentence he receives for the robbery charge.

The feds haven’t been shy about their pursuit of violent offenders. U.S. Attorney Vanessa Roberts Avery, for the District of Connecticut, highlighted the case as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a nationwide initiative designed to bring together law enforcement at all levels to reduce gun violence and make communities safer. Avery’s office emphasized that this prosecution is a direct result of PSN’s focus on strategic enforcement and community collaboration.

Smith has been cooling his heels in detention since January 3, 2023, awaiting the outcome of the investigation and subsequent legal proceedings. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nathaniel J. Gentile and Sean P. Mahard are prosecuting the case, backed by the full weight of the Department of Justice. Avery also extended thanks to the State’s Attorneys for the Judicial Districts of New Haven and Ansonia/Milford for their cooperation.

While Avery cautioned that a guilty plea is not proof of guilt, and that any co-defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty, the evidence presented clearly pointed to Smith’s role in the North Haven robbery. The Grimy Times will continue to follow this case and report on any further developments as they unfold. The investigation involved assistance from multiple police departments including East Haven, West Haven, Ansonia, and North Haven.

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