Man Pleads Guilty In Marco Jewelers Robbery Case: Prosecutors

STAMFORD, CT — According to Leonard C. Boyle, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, a New York man pleaded guilty on Tuesday to federal offenses in connection with the March 2020 robbery of Marco Jewelers in Stamford that left store owner Mark Vuono dead.

Robert Rallo, 58, appeared before U.S. District Judge Kari A. Dooley in Bridgeport on Tuesday and pleaded guilty to one count of interference with commerce by robbery (Hobbs Act robbery), interstate transportation of stolen property and using a firearm to cause a death during a robbery.

Under the terms of a binding plea agreement, if accepted by the court, the parties have agreed that a sentence between 25 years and life in prison is appropriate. Dooley has scheduled sentencing for June 28.

Paul Prosano, 60, of Brooklyn, N.Y., and Thomas Liberatore, 62, of White Plains, N.Y., have also been charged in connection with the robbery, and are awaiting trial.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on March 28, 2020, at approximately 2:48 p.m., Stamford police officers responded to Marco Jewelers, located at 16 Sixth Street in Stamford.

When officers arrived, they found evidence of a robbery and encountered the storeowner, Mark Vuono, lying on the ground in front of an open safe. Emergency medical personnel arrived and pronounced Vuono dead, prosecutors said.

Investigators collected and analyzed surveillance video from the jewelry store and from surrounding businesses and city cameras.

Prosectuors said video obtained from Marco Jewelers showed that on that date, Rallo and Liberatore were driven in a black Jaguar to Marco Jewelers by Prosano, and that Rallo and Liberatore entered the store.

Rallo, who was armed with a handgun, got into a physical altercation with Vuono, while Liberatore stole items from the display cases, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors noted that Vuono was also armed, and he struggled with Rallo next to a large open safe. During the struggle that lasted more than three minutes, Rallo reached into the safe and pulled out a .357 Magnum revolver and shot and killed Vuono, prosecutors said.

A short time after the robbery, law enforcement officials located the black Jaguar in Staten Island, N.Y. and kept surveillance on it.

On March 30, 2020, at approximately 5:30 p.m., Rallo was seen exiting the backseat of a BMW X3 driven by Prosano and getting into the driver's seat of the Jaguar.

Officers followed and the two vehicles fled at a high rate of speed, crashing nearby, prosecutors said. Rallo and Prosano tried to flee on foot but were quickly apprehended by officers.

A search of the BMW found 63 rings, eight bracelets, two tie pins, an earring and a cufflink, prosecutors noted. A search of Prosano's home found 23 pairs of earrings and three rings — all items stolen from Marco Jewelers on March 28, prosecutors said.

Rallo has been in custody since his arrest, Boyle said in a news release Tuesday.

This investigation has been conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Stamford Police Department and Greenwich Police Department, with the assistance of the New York Police Department, Yonkers (N.Y.) Police Department and New Rochelle (N.Y.) Police Department.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jocelyn Courtney Kaoutzanis and Rahul Kale.