Violent, career criminal gets 32 years in prison for brutal fatal robbery of jewelry store

A professional thief who authorities call the architect of a murderous Connecticut jewelry store robbery in was sentenced to 32 years in prison Monday in U.S. District Court.

Thomas Liberatore, 66, was one of three career criminals who brutally pistol whipped and then executed Mark Vuono, owner of Marco Jewelers at his store in Stamford in March 2020. All three have spent decades in prison and prosecutors said they thwarted a plan by Liberatore to kill his prison guards, steal a prison van and escape while on route to one of his court appearances..

Prosecutors presented evidence in court that Liberatore, Robert Rallo and Paul Prosano, all of New York, decided to rob Vuono’s store at the suggestion of Liberatore, who was from Stamford and familiar with the business.

Rallo drove all three in his black jaguar, the government’s evidence showed. They stopped for  breakfast at a McDonald’s restaurant in Greenwich and parked for an hour at a Dairy Queen in Stamford — where they bought cherry cokes — before Liberatore and Rallo walked into the jewelry store. Federal prosecutors said Prosano, the getaway driver, stayed in the car and was in contact with the other two by telephone.

Rallo drew a gun on Vuono, who was alone in the store, according to evidence presented at trial. Vuono raised his hands and complied. But he then apparently changed his mind and decided to fight back. Prosecutors said Rallo used a pistol to beat Vuono’s head into what prosecutors called “a bloody pulp” before shooting him in the head execution style.

Rallo, who has lived most of his life in prison, had previously been convicted of two murders and an attempted murder, prosecutors said.

While Rallo was beating and executing Vuono, prosecutors said Liberatore – just a few feet away – finished robbing the store.

The three left Stamford for Staten Island, where Rallo lived. After dumping their guns, probably in a nature sanctuary, they checked into the Hotel Richmond, prosecutors said, to “party.” Before the night was over, Prosano was taken by ambulance to a hospital, suffering apparently from a reaction to drugs and alcohol, the prosecutors said.

NY man pleads guilty in Connecticut robbery that left jewelry store owner dead

Rallo and Prosano were sentenced previously to 40 and 30 years in prison, respectively, for the Stamford robbery and murder.

Prosecutors said in a memo to U.S. District Judge Kari A. Dooley that Liberatore has a criminal record so long that  “many of those convictions are too old to even be counted toward his criminal history category.” He has spent about 35 years in prison, according to the memo. The record includes convictions for burglary, bribery of witness and witness tampering, conspiracy, larceny, assault, attempted assault, weapons possession, possession of stolen property and assault on a police officer.

While incarcerated, Liberatore ran up 29 disciplinary infractions in New York and six in Connecticut prisons for, among other things, having weapons, fighting and assault on prison staff.

Liberatore’s escape plot unraveled after he decided to represent himself on the Vuono murder and asked the court to hold a hearing on his competency. The hearing was scheduled in September,  prosecutors said.

The prosecutors said that about three weeks before the hearing, Liberatore threatened to kill another inmate at the prison where he was being held in Rhode Island with a homemade knife. The inmate told prison authorities that in addition to the homemade knife, Liberatore also had a homemade handcuff key that he was planning to use on his next trip to court.

The inmate said Liberatore planned to unlock his shackles, stab the guards, steal the van and disappear. During a search of Liberatore’s cell, prison guards found what appeared to be a working handcuff key hidden in a bar of soap, prosecutors said.

Libertore faces more time in prison for the robbery of a Greenwich jewelry store robbery three weeks before Vuono’s murder. The gun used to kill Vuono also was used in the Greenwich robbery, federal prosecutors said..

“Simply put, Liberatore has defied all statistics that show a person “ages out” of criminal conduct,” prosecutor wrote in a court filing.