Citing a defendant's juvenile offense record, a judge sentenced a man to 19 years in prison for an armed robbery.
Eliah Hawkins, 19, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the armed robbery of a man waiting at a bus stop. (Essex County Prosecutor's Office) NEWARK -- The two men first robbed the victim at gunpoint, stealing his wallet and fleeing. Then, when the robbers found a bank card, they went back to the victim and forced him to withdraw $320 from an ATM, authorities said.
On Wednesday, one of the robbers, 19-year-old Eliah Hawkins of Newark, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the hold-up, Acting Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn Murray said.
Superior Court Judge Siobhan Teare imposed the sentence and ordered that under the No Early Release Act, Hawkins must serve at least 85 percent of the prison term before he is eligible for parole, said Essex County Assistant Prosecutor Magdalen Czykier.
Authorities said that on May 20, 2015, Hawkins and another man robbed a Newark Liberty International Airport employee as he was waiting at the bus stop.
The robbers took the man's wallet, Iphone, and other valuables, then fled, only to stop moments later and go through the wallet, discovering the card for an Automatic Teller Machine, Czykier said.
Hawkins and the second man, who was never identified and never arrested, came back to the bus stop and took the victim at gunpoint to the Wells Fargo bank on Broad Street in Newark, where they forced him to withdraw $320 in cash, Czykier said.
East Orange police officers - who were assigned to prosecutor's Narcotics Task Force Unit - were riding in an unmarked car when they saw Hawkins holding the victim's shirt and giving him orders, authorities said.
They said the officers approached the scene and arrested Hawkins, but the second robber escaped.
Hawkins previously pleaded guilty to first-degree robbery and second-degree conspiracy, authorities said.
At the sentencing Wednesday, Teare denied the defense motion to sentence Hawkins a second-degree crime, citing the defendant's prior juvenile history, Czykier said.
"This prosecution was successful because of the cooperation of the victim and the quick thinking of the law enforcement officers, '' Czykier said.
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