Hartford Man Who Robbed Victims After Advertising Vehicle Sales Online Sentenced to 15 Years in Federal Prison (DOJ)

David X. Sullivan, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that FREDERICK WRIGHT, 34, of Hartford, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford to 180 months of imprisonment and four years of supervised release for committing several armed robberies of individuals who responded to his Facebook Marketplace posts advertising the sale of a vehicle.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Wright operated a robbery scheme in which he would post a vehicle for sale on Facebook Marketplace. He then arranged to meet a potential purchaser, allowed the purchaser to take a test drive of the vehicle, and then negotiated a price. Once the purchaser handed over cash for the vehicle, Wright would brandish a firearm, threaten to shoot the victim, and steal the cash and, at times, other valuable items from the victim. During this scheme, between July 2020 and November 2020, Wright and others robbed at least five victims in Windsor and Bloomfield.

Wright was arrested on November 24, 2020. On that date, investigators conducted a court-authorized search of Wright's Hartford residence and seized a loaded 9mm semiautomatic pistol that he and others used during the robberies.

Wright's criminal history includes state felony convictions for attempted robbery in the first degree and failure to appear, and he was on state special parole when he committed the robberies in 2020.

Wright has been detained since his arrest. On February 1, 2022, he pleaded 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.

Judge Shea ordered Wright to pay $14,429 in restitution to the victims of his crimes.

This matter was investigated by Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Hartford Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Konstantin Lantsman.

U.S. Attorney Sullivan encouraged those who sell and purchase items online, and need to meet an individual in person to complete the sale, to use a visible, monitored location. Contact your local police department to see if it offers a monitored meeting location, or search online for a nearby monitored location.