A Hartford man has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for his role in robbing at least five people at gunpoint under the ruse that he was selling them a vehicle that was listed on social media.
Frederick Wright, 34, faced sentencing on Thursday in federal court in Hartford where U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea handed down the lengthy prison term and ordered that it be followed by four years of supervised release, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut.
Shea also ordered Wright to pay $14,429 in restitution to the victims in the case. The sentencing comes after he took a plea bargain in February 2022, pleading guilty to three counts of obstruction of interstate commerce by robbery, two counts of brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence and one count of unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, officials said.
According to federal officials, Wright operated a robbery scheme in which he would post a vehicle for sale on Facebook Marketplace and arrange a meetup with potential buyers. He would allow the individuals to take the vehicle for a test drive and, after negotiating a buying price, Wright would take out a firearm and threaten to shoot the victim if they did not hand over the cash, officials said. In some instances, he also took other valuable items, authorities said.
Federal officials said Wright and others robbed at least five victims in Windsor and Bloomfield between July and November 2020.
Wright was arrested on Nov. 24, 2020, the same day investigators carried out a search warrant at his residence and seized a loaded 9mm semiautomatic pistol believed to be used in the robberies, according to officials.
Authorities noted that Wright’s criminal history includes felony convictions in state court on charges of first-degree attempted robbery and failure to appear. He was on parole during the robbery spree, officials said.
Wright has been in custody since the arrest.