2022 Newington Bank Robbery Leads To 5-Year Sentence

MIDDLETOWN, CT — A Middletown man has been sentenced to five years in a federal prison in connection with robberies at three Connecticut supermarket banks in 2022, including Newington.

Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that Gino Rizzo, 29, of Middletown, received the sentence Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer in New Haven.

The sentence of 60 months of imprisonment is to be followed by three years of supervised release, Avery said.

According to court documents and statements made in court, using notes demanding cash, Rizzo robbed the then-People's United Bank branches located in Stop & Shop supermarkets in Glastonbury on July 16, 2022; in Newington on July 18, 2022; and in West Hartford July 20, 2022.

Rizzo’s girlfriend, Jalania Pantano, also participated in the West Hartford robbery and the two were captured on surveillance cameras, Avery said.

Rizzo was arrested on July 21, 2022. On April 11, 2023, while on pre-trial release, he disconnected his GPS electronic monitoring bracelet and absconded from his court-mandated rehabilitation center, Avery said. He has been detained since his re-arrest on May 22 of last year.

On July 25, 2023, Rizzo pleaded guilty to bank robbery.

Pantano was arrested on August 30, 2022, and she pleaded guilty to bank robbery on Aug. 23, 2023. On Dec. 5, 2023, she was sentenced to 30 months of imprisonment.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Middletown, Glastonbury, Newington, and West Hartford Police Departments.