Fugitive Trinidadian Man Arrested for 2009 Armed Robbery of Restaurant

NEWARK, N.J. – A Trinidadian and Tobagonian man who has been a fugitive for over 10 years has been arrested and will face charges in connection with the armed robbery of a steakhouse in 2009, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced today.

Kofi Edwards, 51, of Trinidad and Tobago, was charged by indictment in 2014 with one count of conspiracy to commit armed Hobbs Act robbery, one count of Hobbs Act robbery, and one count of brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. Edwards appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Leda Dunn Wettre in Newark federal court today, entered a plea of not guilty and was detained. He was arrested in California and had an initial appearance on July 10, 2024, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Chi Soo Kim in Sacramento, and was detained and transported to the District of New Jersey.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

In March 2009, Edwards conspired with other individuals to rob a steakhouse restaurant in Woodbridge, New Jersey, at gunpoint. A conspirator, who was an employee of the restaurant at the time, called the restaurant to determine if any managers were present, because he knew that only managers would be able to open the restaurant’s safe. After confirming that a manager was present, Edwards and another individual entered the restaurant – Edwards carrying a fake gun and the other individual armed with a firearm – and brandished the weapons while demanding that employees open the safe. After the employees complied, Edwards and the other individual bound the employees with plastic zip ties and fled with approximately $150,000 in cash.

Edwards later left New Jersey and began living under a false identity. He was added to the FBI’s “Most Wanted” list and the FBI offered a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading directly to his arrest. Three other defendants have been convicted and sentenced in connection with the Hobbs Act robbery conspiracy.

Edwards faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on the counts of conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery and Hobbs Act robbery. On the count of brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, Edwards faces a mandatory minimum prison sentence of seven years – which must run consecutively to any other sentence Edwards receives – and a maximum potential penalty of life in prison. Each count also carries a fine of up to $250,000, or twice the gain or loss from the offenses, whichever is greatest.

These charges are the result of an investigation by the Newark Central Jersey Safe Streets Task Force. Led by the FBI, the Task Force focuses on violent crime and gang violence, and is made up of agents and task force officers from the New Brunswick Police Department, Middlesex County Prosecutors Office, Raritan Township Police Department, Woodbridge Police Department, Hackettstown Police Department, Clinton Township Police Department, and Hunterdon County Prosecutors Office.

U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited the special agents and task force officers of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge James E. Dennehy in Newark, with the investigation leading to the charges. He also thanked the FBI’s Sacramento, California, Field Office, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Siddhartha Patel; and Immigration and Customs Enforcement – Enforcement and Removal Operations, under the direction of Field Office Director John Tsoukaris.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Trevor A. Chenoweth of the General Crimes Unit in Newark.

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