CT man gets five years in federal prison for string of supermarket bank robberies in 2022

A Middletown man has been sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty in federal court to a robbery spree involving three banks in grocery stores in 2022.

A Middletown man has been sentenced to five years in federal prison for robbing three banks in 2022.

Gino Rizzo, 29, faced sentencing Wednesday in federal court in New Haven, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut. His sentence will be followed by three years of supervised release.

According to federal officials, Rizzo robbed three People’s United Bank branches located in multiple Stop & Shop supermarkets. He held up the bank in Glastonbury on July 16, 2022, before committing a robbery at the Newington location two days later, officials said. Two days after that, he robbed the People’s Bank in West Hartford.

Federal officials said Rizzo used notes that demanded cash during the robberies. Officials also said his girlfriend, identified as Jalania Pantano, participated in the West Hartford robbery.

Rizzo was arrested on July 21, 2022, and released from custody with a GPS bracelet. On April 11, 2023, he disconnected the GPS device and absconded from his court-mandated rehabilitation center, federal officials said.

Rizzo has been in custody since he was arrested again on May 22, 2023. His sentencing came after he previously pleaded guilty to bank robbery, officials said.

Pantano was arrested on August 30, 2022. She pleaded guilty to bank robbery about a year later and was sentenced in December to 30 months in prison, according to federal officials.

The bank robberies were investigated by the FBI and police departments in Middletown, Glastonbury, Newington and West Hartford.