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Press Release

Detroit Man Sentenced to 51 Months in Prison for Role in Smash-and-Grab Robbery of Stamford Jewelry Store

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Connecticut

Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that DAJUHN GRIFFIN, 20, of Detroit, Michigan, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden in Bridgeport to 51 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release for his role in a smash-and-grab robbery of a Stamford jewelry store in November 2014.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on November 26, 2014, GRIFFIN and others stole a Stamford resident’s SUV and drove it to the Stamford Town Center Mall.  GRIFFIN and two accomplices, armed with hammers, then entered Sidney Thomas Jewelers during regular business hours.  Soon after entering, they used the hammers to smash open a jewelry display case and removed more than $250,000 worth of Rolex watches.  The three then fled with security guards in pursuit.  One of GRIFFIN’s accomplices, Richard Mathew Bailey, was caught and apprehended inside the mall while fleeing.

After the robbery, Stamford Police found the stolen SUV running in the mall’s parking garage.

GRIFFIN was arrested in Detroit on April 6, 2015.  On September 4, 2015, he pleaded guilty to one count of interfering with commerce by robbery.

GRIFFIN, who had been released on bond, was remanded to custody at the conclusion of today’s sentencing.

Richard Mathew Bailey and Brian Moore, both from Detroit, previously pleaded guilty to the same charge.  Moore helped organize and carry out the robbery by soliciting others to participate and partially funding it.  He also drove accomplices from Detroit to Stamford to carry out the robbery and picked them up after the robbery in order to return to Detroit.

On November 23, 2015, Moore was sentenced to 48 months of imprisonment.  Bailey awaits sentencing.  A fourth defendant, also a resident of Detroit, has been charged and is awaiting trial.

This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Stamford Police Department.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gabriel J. Vidoni.

Updated January 28, 2016