A Middletown man pleaded guilty Tuesday to robbing a Peoples United Bank inside a West Hartford Stop & Shop as well as two other supermarket-based bank branches, and is in custody following a second arrest.

By Ronni Newton

The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced that Gino Rizzo, 29, of Middletown pleaded guilty on Tuesday in connection with the robbery of the People’s United Bank branch located inside the Stop & Shop store at 176 Newington Road in West Hartford on July 20, 2022, as well as the robbery of People’s United Bank branches inside the Stop & Shops supermarkets in Glastonbury on July 16, 2022, and in Newington on July 18, 2022.

During the robbery he used notes to demand cash, according to court documents and statements made in court, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

Rizzo was arrested on July 21, 2022. He and Jalania Pantano, then 27 and also of Middletown, were indicted on Aug. 31, 2022, and both were initially detained.

Rizzo had been released while awaiting trial, but the U.S. Attorney’s Office said that he had disconnected his GPS electronic monitoring bracelet and on April 11, 2023 “absconded from his court-mandated rehabilitation center.” He was rearrested on May 11, and has been detained since then.

Rizzo is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer in New Haven on Oct. 17, and faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years.

Police departments in West Hartford, Glastonbury, Newington, and Middletown were involved with the investigation, along with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case has been prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stephanie T. Levick and Robert S. Dearington.

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