Man Involved in Bridgeport Restaurant Robbery Sentenced to 66 Months in Federal Prison

 Leonard C Boyle, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that JERMAINE OGRINC, 35, of Bridgeport, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill in Bridgeport to 66 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for his role in violent Bridgeport restaurant robbery in 2017.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on November 29, 2017, at approximately 8:00 p.m., Ogrinc and three other men entered the La Sabrosura Restaurant on East Main Street in Bridgeport.  The robbers, two of whom were armed with firearms, forced two workers and a customer into the kitchen and ordered them to lie on the floor with their hands behind their heads.  Another individual who was in a back room and heard screaming ran from the restaurant and flagged down the police.  One of the robbers took a cellphone from one of the victims and cash from another, and the robbers attempted to break into an ATM in the restaurant.  After spotting police, Ogrinc and his associates fled.  Ogrinc was apprehended a short time later near the restaurant.  In an interview with investigators, he admitted to his role in the robbery.

Ogrinc has been detained since his arrest.  On March 11, 2021, he pleaded guilty to one count of Hobbs Act Robbery.

This investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bridgeport Police Department.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rahul Kale.