Prison Time For Hartford Man Who Robbed Internet Sellers: Feds

HARTFORD, CT — A young Hartford man will spend some time behind bars after being sentenced Thursday for a series of armed robberies targeting online marketplace sellers.

Marc H. Silverman, acting U.S. attorney for Connecticut, said Jalen Lasalle, 20, of Hartford, was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court in Hartford to 10 years of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release.

Lasalle committed a series of gunpoint robberies targeting individual sellers of luxury goods over online marketplaces, Silverman said.

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 people advertising items for sale on internet marketplaces like 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, Silverman 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 his sister Valerie Meneses, also committed an armed robbery in August 2022 in Middletown.

Lasalle was arrested on Feb. 3, 2023.

On September 18, 2024, he pleaded guilty to two counts of interference with commerce by robbery (Hobbs Act robbery), and two counts of carrying and using a firearm in a violent crime.

Lasalle, who is released on a $50,000 bond, is required to report to prison on Feb. 24.

Villegas and Meneses pleaded guilty to related charges.

On Jan. 8, Villegas was sentenced to 13 years behind bars; on Oct. 16, 2024, Meneses was sentenced to 5.25 years behind bars.

This matter was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), the Hartford Police Department, and the Middletown Police Department.

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