Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that JALEN LASALLE, 20, of Hartford, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Sarala V. Nagala in Hartford to offenses related to a series of gunpoint robberies targeting individual sellers of luxury goods over online marketplaces.
According to court documents and statements made in court, ATF, the Hartford Police Department, and the Middletown Police Departments investigated a series of gunpoint robberies of individuals who advertised items for sale on internet marketplaces, such as Facebook Marketplace and OfferUp. At an arranged meeting place to sell their items, which included cell phones and luxury sneakers and accessories, the purported purchaser would brandish a firearm, force the victim to hand over the luxury goods, and flee. The investigation revealed that Lasalle and John Villegas, also known as “Kirby,” committed five armed robberies in Hartford in late August and early September 2022. Villegas, with Valerie Meneses, also committed an armed robbery in August 2022 in Middletown.
Lasalle was arrested on February 3, 2023.
Lasalle pleaded guilty to two counts of interference with commerce by robbery (Hobbs Act robbery), an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years on each count, and two counts of carrying and using a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, an offense that mandatory consecutive term of imprisonment of at least five years on each count.
Lasalle is released on a $50,000 pending sentencing, which is scheduled for January 7.
Villegas and Meneses, both of Hartford, have pleaded guilty and await sentencing. Villegas has been detained since his arrest on December 14, 2022, and Meneses is released on bond.
This matter has been investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), the Hartford Police Department, and the Middletown Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stephanie T. Levick and A. Reed Durham.
U.S. Attorney Avery encouraged those who sell and purchase items online, and need to meet an individual in person to complete the sale, to use a visible, monitored location. Contact your local police department to see if it offers a monitored meeting location, or search online for a nearby monitored location.
