Newark Man Federally Charged With Convenience Store Robbery Spree

NEWARK, N.J. – A man who allegedly committed six armed robberies of Newark convenience stores – including the same grocery twice within a week – has been federally charged in connection with the spree, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Larry McRae, 26, of Newark, is charged by complaint with six Hobbs Act robberies and one count of discharging a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. He appeared this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Joseph A. Dickson in Newark federal court and was detained.

According to the complaint unsealed today:

From June 30, 2012 through Sept. 15, 2012, McRae entered the convenience stores on six different occasions, robbing the store clerks at gunpoint. During the robbery of the Moroni Deli on Sept. 15, 2013, he discharged one round from a handgun as he exited the store. McRae was apprehended by members of the Newark Police Department later that morning and has been in state custody since that time.

The dates and locations of the robberies were as follows:

Each of the Hobbs Act robbery charges carries a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison. The discharging a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence charge carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison to run consecutive to any sentence that he receives for the Hobbs Act robbery charge and a maximum potential penalty of life in prison. Each of the seven counts also carries a maximum $250,000 fine.

U.S. Attorney Fishman praised special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Aaron T. Ford, with the investigation. He also thanked the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Acting Prosecutor Carolyn A. Murray, and the Newark Police Department, under the leadership of Director Samual A. DeMaio and Chief Sheilah A. Coley for their excellent work on the case.

The government is represented by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas S. Kearney of the U.S. Attorney’s Office General Crimes Unit in Newark.

The charges and the allegations contained in the complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.       

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Defense counsel: Assistant Federal Public Defender John Yauch Esq., Newark

McRae, Larry Complaint