Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin announced that Zachary Alvarado (age 20), of 285 Main Street, Woonsocket, was sentenced today to 55 years with 35 years to serve and the remainder suspended with probation, non paroleable, Superior Court Justice Robert D. Krause for multiple robberies and assaults that took place over a four-month period in 2015 that culminated with Alvarado shooting four people outside Aly's Bar on June 19, 2015. Alvarado had pleaded guilty before Judge Krause on Wednesday March 23, 2016.
Had the case proceeded to trial, the State was prepared to prove that on March 5, 2015, April 2, 2015, and again on April 27, 2015, Alvarado robbed at gun point the Metro PCS store located on Main Street in Woonsocket. During the April 27, 2015 robbery, the defendant fired the weapon into the air. The State would have also proved that on June 13, 2015, the defendant robbed at gunpoint the Metro PCS store located on Social Street in Woonsocket. During the robbery, the defendant fired the gun into the front desk of the store.
In addition, the State would have proved that in the very early hours of June 19, 2015, Alvarado, armed with a .22 caliber Luger, shot four individuals who were gathered outside Aly's Riverside Pub in a parking lot on River Street in Woonsocket.
Alvarado then fled the scene, and turned himself over to the Woonsocket Police later that day. He had been held without bail since his arrest.
Shell casings from the scene on River Street matched the shell casings from two of the Metro PCS robberies. Victims of the robberies also identified the defendant.
"Armed with an illegal firearm, Zachary Alvarado was a one-man crime spree who wrought havoc through the city of Woonsocket," said Attorney General Kilmartin. "Today's sentence sends a strong message that gun violence in our communities will be met with stiff criminal penalties."
Woonsocket Police Detectives Kevin Sanford and Thomas Gormley investigated the case and Special Assistant Attorneys General Peter Roklan and Joseph McBurney prosecuted the case on behalf of the Office of Attorney General.