Neptune, New Jersey, Man Sentenced to 23 Years in Prison for Shooting of Cab Driver, Several Armed Robberies in Monmouth County

TRENTON, N.J. – A Monmouth County, New Jersey, man was sentenced today to 276 months in prison for his involvement in a 24-hour crime spree in five separate shore-area towns that involved the shooting of a cab driver and a number of armed robberies, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Quam Wilson, 24, of Neptune, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Peter G. Sheridan to the first two counts of an indictment charging him with committing a Hobbs Act robbery and using a firearm during the commission of that robbery. Judge Sheridan imposed the sentence today in Trenton federal court.

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

Wilson engaged in a crime spree that began at approximately 5:00 a.m. on Nov. 13, 2012, when he robbed a cab driver in Asbury Park. The driver was shot during the robbery. The victim, who survived, sustained a single gunshot wound to the head and was taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center. During the plea hearing, Wilson admitted he took the cab driver’s identification, taxi keys and debit card during the robbery.

After robbing the taxi driver, Wilson proceeded to a Shell gas station located in Ocean Township. There, he approached a gas station attendant and, while brandishing a handgun, robbed him of cash and fled the area. Later that morning, Wilson attempted to obtain money from the cab driver’s bank account from several area banks. Suspecting that a theft was taking place, a bank employee confiscated the identification and debit card from Wilson and contacted police.  At approximately 9:00 p.m., that same day, he committed an armed robbery at a taxi stand in Long Branch, again while brandishing a handgun.

During the early morning hours of the next day, Nov. 14, 2012, Wilson robbed an Exxon gas station in Red Bank at gunpoint. A short time later, Wilson entered a Quick Check convenience store in Neptune Township. Again, he pointed a handgun at a cashier and demanded money. Wilson was arrested at approximately 10:00 p.m. later that day by several police officers in Asbury Park, where he had been hiding in an attic.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Sheridan sentenced Wilson to serve five years of supervised release. Restitution will be determined at a later date. Wilson’s sentence will be served consecutively to a state prison term he is currently serving. He was sentenced on March 14, 2014, to eight years in state prison with a four- year period of parole ineligibility.

U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, under the direction of Special Agent in George Belsky, with the investigation leading to today’s sentencing. He also thanked the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Acting Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni, Asbury Park Police Department, Ocean Township Police Department, Long Branch Police Department, Neptune Township Police Department and the United States Marshals Service N.Y. /N.J. Regional Fugitive Task Force for their assistance.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney R. Joseph Gribko of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Trenton, and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacquelynn Seely from the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office.

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