Cranston Man Sentenced For 2018 Home Invasion

CRANSTON, RI — A Cranston man is facing seven years in prison after he was convicted of charges related to a 2018 home invasion. Elijah Blyden, 19, was sentenced to 20 years in prison with seven to serve.

In June of 2018, Blyden and two others, Juan Velasquez and Josse Mosquea-Rodriguez, broke into an apartment on Hanover Street in Providence, holding the family inside at gunpoint. They then tied the family up with ropes, threatened them with two guns and a kitchen knife and pistol-whipped one of the family members, Attorney General Peter Neronha's office said. Blyden, Velasquez and Mosquea-Rodriguez then took everything they could from the apartment, robbing the family members of cash and jewelry while threatening to kill them if they called the police.

Providence police later found several posts on social media showing the three men with weapons and large amounts of cash. Blyden, in particular, posted many pictures of himself, Neronha's office said.

At the time of the robbery, Mosquea-Rodriguez was 17 years old, and his case was therefore brought to family court. On December 18, 2018, he pleaded no contest to one count of first=degree robbery. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison with seven to serve. Until his 19th birthday, he is serving his sentence in the Rhode Island Training School. At that time, a hearing will be held to determine if he will be transferred to the Adult Correctional Facility in Cranston. The sentence is certified, meaning it is an adult conviction.

Velasquez, meanwhile, pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree robbery and one count of burglary in June. He was sentenced to 35 years in prison with 17 to serve.