Hartford Man Pleads Guilty To Robbing Internet Sellers: Feds

HARTFORD, CT — A local man pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to robbing sellers of goods over online marketplaces back in 2022.

Vanessa Roberts Avery, U.S. Attorney for Connecticut, said Jalen LaSalle, 20, of Hartford, pleaded guilty to those offenses in U.S. District Court in Hartford.

She said the plea is related to a series of gunpoint robberies targeting individual sellers of luxury goods.

According to court documents and statements made in court, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (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.

Avery said LaSalle would go to an arranged meeting place where sellers would sell items like cell phones, luxury sneakers, and accessories and brandish a firearm, force the victim to hand over the goods and flee.

She said the investigation revealed 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 Feb. 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.

He also pleaded guilty to two counts of carrying and using a firearm during in relation to a violent crime, an offense carrying a five-year prison term.

Lasalle is released on a $50,000 pending sentencing, which is scheduled for Jan. 7, 2025.

Villegas and Meneses, both of Hartford, have pleaded guilty and await sentencing.

Villegas has been detained since his arrest on Dec. 14, 2022, and Meneses is released on bond.

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