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Stamford man, 18, pleads guilty in armed robbery-turned-shooting
STAMFORD — A Stamford man has pleaded guilty in connection to a robbery that ended in a shooting in the South End in October 2021.
Alex Vargas, 18, pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit first-degree robbery and third-degree assault on an elderly person during an appearance at the state Superior Court in Stamford on Wednesday. The guilty pleas came as part of a deal with state prosecutors.
Under the deal, Assistant State’s Attorney Elizabeth Moran said the state agreed not to pursue first-degree robbery charges, which come with a mandatory minimum of five years in prison, in light of his cooperation with police. Moran also said the state considered the fact that Vargas has been “doing well” since he was released from custody when making the offer.
In return for the guilty pleas, Vargas is expected to receive a 10-year prison sentence, which will be suspended after he serves two years, and five years of probation, Moran said Wednesday.
Vargas was arrested on Oct. 18, 2021, on charges of first-degree robbery, conspiracy to commit first-degree robbery, conspiracy to commit first-degree assault, second-degree larceny and conspiracy to commit second-degree larceny stemming from an armed-robbery-turned-shooting on Oct. 1 of that year.
According to police reports, a 51-year-old man said he spoke with what he identified as five teenagers on Oct. 1, 2021, telling them that “he was looking to pay a woman for sex.”
After allegedly agreeing to help the man, the five left and returned with a teenage girl, the reports said. The man told police one of the teens then pointed a gun at him and demanded all his money, according to the reports.
The report said the man was robbed of cash, at which point a brief struggle ensued and the man was shot in the arm.
Vargas was later identified as one of the teens using surveillance footage from the area.
One of Vargas’s codefendants, 16-year-old Quian Knapp-Smith — who was 15 at the time of the shooting— pleaded guilty to first-degree assault, conspiracy to commit first-degree robbery, carrying a pistol without a permit and illegal discharge of a firearm in December. He was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison in March.
Two other teens were charged in connection to the robbery-turned-shooting. Their cases were taken up in the juvenile court system, and the result of those cases is uncertain.
Vargas is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 16.
