Man Sentenced In Armed Robbery Spree, Including Store In Milford: Feds

BRIDGEPORT, CT — A Bridgeport man has been sentenced to more than seven years in federal prison for his role in the violent armed robberies of multiple retail stores in several towns, including Milford, and an Amazon delivery truck, according to officials.

Elijah Raffington, 22, was sentenced Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill in Bridgeport to 89 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney for Connecticut David X. Sullivan announced.

Raffington is scheduled to complete a state sentence for related conduct in October 2027, and Underhill reduced the federal sentence to account for time Raffington will serve in state custody, according to officials.

Prosecutors said Raffington and others committed gunpoint robberies of Omega Deli, located at 999 Maplewood Avenue in Bridgeport, on Dec. 15, 2022; Milford Convenience & Tobacco, at 784 Boston Post Road in Milford, on Dec. 21, 2022; an Amazon delivery truck and merchandise in Bridgeport on Dec. 23, 2022; Smoke Shop, at 2175 Boston Avenue in Bridgeport, on Dec. 23, 2022; and Cumberland Farms, at 1290 West Broad Street in Stratford, on Jan. 2, 2023.

“During the store robberies, Raffington and his accomplices entered businesses with firearms, threatened employees, forced victims to the ground, and stole money and property,” officials wrote in a news release. “At Omega Deli, Raffington forced an employee to the ground and held him at gunpoint while his associate, Mickyeem Profit, rifled through the store registers and stole money and cigarettes. As Raffington and Profit were leaving the store, Raffington pointed his gun at a customer who was entering the store [pictured below]. During the Amazon truck robbery, the driver was forced into the back of the truck at gunpoint and assaulted.”

Raffington has been detained since his arrest on related state charges on Jan. 3, 2023. He pleaded guilty on Nov. 4, 202 in federal court to one count of interference with commerce by robbery (“Hobbs Act robbery”) and one count of carrying, using, and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.

Profit pleaded guilty and, on March 12, was sentenced to 102 months of imprisonment, according to officials.

The matter has been investigated by the FBI, the Bridgeport Police Department, the Stratford Police Department, and the Milford Police Department, and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathaniel J. Gentile, according to officials.