Connecticut man sentenced to prison after Massachusetts man was kidnapped, shot, engulfed in flames

Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that 41-year-old Calvin Roberson, also known as “Cutty,” of Waterbury, was sentenced Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Omar Williams in Hartford to 348 months of imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release, for his role in the kidnapping and murder of a Massachusetts man in 2020.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on December 24, 2020, Roberson and Brandon Batiste kidnapped 28-year-old Francisco Roman Jr. at gunpoint from his residence in Chicopee, Massachusetts.  Roberson and Batiste threatened to harm Roman if he did not comply with their orders, handcuffed him, and stole cash, marijuana, and other items from Roman.  Roberson and Batiste forced Roman into the rear of Roman’s car and transported Roman and the stolen property to Connecticut.  Batiste shot and killed Roman while the car was enroute to Hartford.  They then drove the car to Shultas Place in Hartford and left it parked on the street.

Roberson and Batiste then drove a separate car to an apartment that Roberson shared with Shamari Smith in Waterbury, and took most of the property stolen during the robbery into the apartment.

Shortly before 9 p.m. on December 26, 2020, Hartford police and fire personnel responded to Shultas Place and found Roman’s car engulfed in flames.  After the fire was extinguished, investigators discovered Roman’s body with multiple gunshot wounds in the rear of the vehicle.

Roberson has been detained since his arrest on February 11, 2021.  On April 27, 2023, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit kidnaping, and causing the death of a person through the use of a firearm.

Batiste pleaded guilty to the same charges and, on December 20, 2023, was sentenced to 42 years of imprisonment.

Smith, who lied to law enforcement about what she knew about the robbery, kidnapping, and murder, and her role in the disposal of the stolen property, pleaded guilty to misprision of a felony.  On October 13, 2023, she was sentenced to 25 months of imprisonment.

This investigation was conducted by the FBI’s Northern Connecticut Gang Task Force, FBI’s Springfield Gang Task Force, Massachusetts State Police, Hampden County (Mass.) District Attorney’s Office, Hartford Police Department’s Major Crimes Division, Chicopee Police Department and Springfield Police Department, with the assistance of the Waterbury Police Department and the FBI’s Atlanta Field Office.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Angel M. Krull and Trial Attorney Brian P. Leaming of the Justice Department’s Violent Crime and Racketeering Section.