Newark Man Admits Convenience Store Robbery Spree

NEWARK, N.J. – A Newark, N.J., man today admitted committing six armed robberies of Newark convenience stores – including the same grocery store twice within a week, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Larry McRae, 27, of Newark, N.J., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Kevin McNulty in Newark federal court to an information charging him with six counts of Hobbs Act robbery and one count of discharging a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.

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

From June 30, 2012, through Sept. 15, 2012, McRae entered convenience stores in Newark on six different occasions and robbed the store clerks at gunpoint. During the Sept. 15, 2012, robbery he discharged one round from a handgun as he exited the store. He was apprehended by the Newark Police Department later that morning.

Each of the Hobbs Act robbery charges carries a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. The charge of discharging a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence carries a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison, a maximum of life in prison and a fine up to $250,000. The sentence on the discharging of the firearm will run consecutively to the sentence for the six robberies. Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 15, 2014.

U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Aaron T. Ford, with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea. He also thanked the Newark Police Department for their contribution to the investigation.

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.

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

McRae, Larry Information