Thomas Liberatore, Stamford Jewelry Store Robbery, Connecticut 2020

Thomas Liberatore, 66, was sentenced to 384 months of imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release, for his role in the 2020 Marco Jewelers robbery in Stamford, Connecticut.

Liberatore and his accomplices, Paul Prosano and Robert Rallo, orchestrated the robbery, which resulted in the murder of store owner Mark Vuono. According to court documents, Liberatore and his team arrived at the store in a black Jaguar, with Liberatore and Rallo entering the store. Rallo, armed with a handgun, engaged in a physical altercation with Vuono, while Liberatore stole items from the display cases.

Vuono, who also possessed a firearm, and Rallo struggled next to a large open safe. During the more than three-minute struggle, Rallo reached into the safe and pulled out a third firearm, a .357 Magnum revolver. Rallo subsequently shot and killed Vuono with the .357 revolver.

The robbery resulted in the theft of between $360,000 and $430,000 worth of jewelry. Liberatore has a lengthy criminal history, and he served a total of approximately 30 years in prison prior to the Marco Jewelers and the murder of Mark Vuono.

Liberatore met Rallo and Prosano while incarcerated within the New York State Department of Corrections. On December 19, 2022, a jury found Liberatore and Prosano guilty of interference with commerce by robbery (Hobbs Act robbery) and interstate transportation of stolen property. Liberatore was also found guilty of aiding and abetting the use of a firearm to cause a death during a robbery.

Liberatore was detained since his arrest on April 1, 2020. On April 5, 2022, Rallo pleaded guilty to Hobbs Act robbery, interstate transportation of stolen property, and using a firearm to cause a death during a robbery. On March 1, 2023, he was sentenced to 40 years of imprisonment. On July 5, 2023, Prosano was sentenced to 30 years of imprisonment.

This investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Stamford Police Department and Greenwich Police Department, with the assistance of the New York Police Department, Yonkers (N.Y.) Police Department and New Rochelle (N.Y.) Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jocelyn Courtney Kaoutzanis, Rahul Kale and Margaret Donovan.

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