Bridgeport Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Robbery Offense

Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that JERMAINE BETHEL, 27, of Bridgeport, pleaded guilty yesterday in Bridgeport federal court to a federal robbery offense.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on April 28, 2023, Bethel and three associates drove to a Bridgeport apartment building where they intended to carry out a robbery at an apartment where they believed they would find drugs and drug proceeds.  Bethel, wearing gloves and a surgical mask, and two associates, one of whom carried a crowbar, entered the apartment building.  Bethel’s third associate stayed in the vehicle to serve as a getaway driver.  After failing to enter the apartment, Bethel and his associates returned to the vehicle, where they were encountered by a law enforcement.  Officers searched the vehicle and its occupants and seized two handguns and the crowbar.  A search of Bethel’s person revealed 45 small bags containing crack cocaine.

Bethel pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act Robbery, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years.  He is scheduled to be sentenced on May 7 by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer in New Haven.

Bethel has been detained since his arrest on April 28, 2023.

This investigation is being conducted by FBI’s Bridgeport Safe Streets Task Force and the Bridgeport Police Department.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ross Weingarten and Karen Peck.