New Haven Man, 34, Gets 8 Years For Drugs, Gun Stolen In Madison: Feds

NEW HAVEN, CT —Robbie Smith had been released from federal prison in 2018 after serving time on a drug trafficking case and was on supervised release when seven months later, he was found with a stolen gun and crack, according to the Justice Department.

The 34-year-old from New Haven, sentenced this week to serve 100 months in prison, had a loaded Smith & Wesson K-22 revolver that had been stolen out of Madison, according to U.S. Attorney for Connecticut, Vanessa Roberts Avery.

Smith, who was sentenced in U.S. District Court this week, will also serve three years of supervised release, for firearm and narcotics offenses, and for violating the conditions of his supervised release from a prior federal conviction.

According to Avery, court documents and statements made in court, in July 2016, a federal judge sentenced Smith to 36 months in prison and three years of supervised release for participating in a narcotics trafficking organization that distributed heroin and crack cocaine throughout New Haven.

Released from prison in May 2018, seven months later, New Haven cops got a tip that Smith had a handgun and had been involved in a shooting incident, Avery said. On Dec. 28, 2018, a court-authorized search of Smith’s apartment found the loaded revolver, a quantity of crack cocaine, and drug packaging materials, the US Attorney said.

Smith’s criminal history also includes a state conviction for first-degree robbery, court records show. It is a violation of federal law for a person previously convicted of a felony offense to possess a firearm or ammunition that has moved in interstate or foreign commerce, Avery said.

Detained since his arrest, on July 18, 2019, he pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, and possession with intent to distribute cocaine base and also admitted that he had violated the terms of his supervised release, Avery said.