Rebecca Barbera, 44, of Guilford, was sentenced on July 1 to 24 months in federal prison and two years of supervised release for assisting in a series of violent robberies across Connecticut during September and October 2022, according to David X. Sullivan, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut.
Court documents and statements made in court show that between September 5 and October 13, 2022, Barbera’s associate Lonny Cross committed or attempted to commit 37 robberies at gas station convenience stores, mini-markets, and liquor stores in several towns across Connecticut as well as Port Chester, New York. Cross stole more than $58,000 in cash during this period. Some robberies occurred minutes apart on the same day.
For at least 24 of these incidents, Barbera accompanied Cross to the store locations. She sometimes entered first to count employees and customers before reporting back to Cross. After receiving this information from Barbera, Cross would enter with a knife or facsimile firearm and threaten employees with statements such as “I know where you work” and “if you call the police I’ll come back and blow your head off,” stealing cash or other items. In some cases he physically grabbed victims or held them at knifepoint; during one robbery on September 24 in Wethersfield, he threatened a store owner’s twelve-year-old son with a knife while robbing the register.
Investigators conducted searches on October 14 at Cross’s residence and his vehicle. They found clothing matching that worn by Cross during several robberies, along with heroin, crack cocaine, and narcotics paraphernalia at his home; inside his car they discovered heroin bags, crack cocaine weighing approximately fourteen grams, and a knit hat similar to one used by Cross during a recent robbery. At that time Cross was already on state parole for prior robbery convictions; after being arrested he instructed Barbera from jail to dispose of evidence related to the crimes.
Barbera was arrested on October 28. She pleaded guilty on May 24 to tampering with evidence. She is currently released on bond but must report to prison by September 4. Her co-defendant Lonny Cross pleaded guilty earlier and received a sentence of over fifteen years’ imprisonment.
The investigation involved multiple law enforcement agencies including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Connecticut State Police, Orange Police Department (Connecticut), Port Chester Police Department (New York), numerous local departments from affected municipalities across both states as well as assistance from Connecticut State Parole officers, according to the official website. The U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut serves all residents within the state under the U.S. Department of Justice umbrella by prosecuting federal crimes—employing about sixty-eight assistant attorneys—and advancing justice initiatives.