Hartford Woman, 24, Sent To Prison For Role In Armed Robbery: Feds

HARTFORD/MIDDLETOWN, CT — A Hartford woman will be behind bars for a little more than five years after sentencing Wednesday for her role in a 2022 Middletown robbery of someone selling an item via an online market.

Vanessa Roberts Avery, U.S. attorney for Connecticut, said Valerie Meneses, 24, was sentenced Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Hartford to 63 months of imprisonment, followed by two years of supervised release, for her role in the gunpoint robbery of a victim selling an iPhone on Facebook Marketplace.

According to court documents and statements made in court, ATF, the Hartford Police Department, and the Middletown Police Department 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, Avery said.

The investigation revealed, in August and September 2022, Meneses’ brother, John Villegas, also known as “Kirby,” committed five armed robberies in Hartford with Jalen Lasalle, and one armed robbery with Meneses in Middletown, she said.

Avery said Meneses used a Facebook account to arrange the purported purchase of an iPhone from a victim who advertised its sale on Facebook Marketplace.

Officials said that on August 20, 2022, Meneses traveled with Villegas to meet the victim at a restaurant parking lot in Middletown.

When the victim arrived at the meeting location, Villegas entered the victim’s car, inspected the iPhone, pulled out a firearm, and told the victim he was “out of luck,” according to Avery.

She said Villegas also attempted to grab the victim’s cellphone and threatened to shoot him, before running to his waiting vehicle and fleeing with Meneses.

Meneses to was ordered by the judge to pay $1,000 in restitution to the victim.

Meneses was arrested on Oct. 5, 2023. On May 15, 2024, she pleaded guilty to interference with commerce by robbery (Hobbs Act robbery), and carrying and using a firearm during and in relation to a violent crime.

Meneses, who is released on a $25,000 bond, will report to prison on Dec. 15.

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

For the full announcement, click on this link.