Attorney General Peter F. Neronha announced that Juan Velasquez (age 22) pleaded guilty on June 12, 2019, to two counts of first degree robbery and one count of burglary before Providence Superior Court Justice Robert D. Krause. The Court sentenced him to a 35-year full sentence with 17 years to serve at the ACI and the balance suspended with probation for two separate 2018 home invasions in Cranston and Providence.
Velasquez was further ordered to have no contact with the victims. All three sentences will run concurrently.
Had the cases proceeded to trial, the State was prepared to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that on the night of June 25, 2018, Velasquez made a forced entry into an apartment located on Hanover Street in Providence. Inside the apartment, the family was rounded up at gunpoint, bound with cords, threatened with two guns and a kitchen knife and one victim was pistol-whipped. The victims were robbed of cash and jewelry and the apartment was ransacked.
Additionally, the State was prepared to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that on July 27, 2018, Velasquez made a forced entry into an apartment located on Chestnut Hill Avenue in Cranston. Victims were also held at gunpoint, bound with cords and robbed of cash and jewelry.
Juan Velasquez was identified by victims in both cases and caught on a doorbell surveillance camera at the Cranston residence.
Lieutenant Dennis O'Brien and Detectives Charles Matracia and Robert Dumkuski led the Providence investigation. Detectives Jon Nelson and Salvador Sanchez led the Cranston investigation. Special Assistant Attorney General Edward G. Mullaney prosecuted the case on behalf of the Office of Attorney General.
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