Two New York Men Admit Committing Three Gunpoint Robberies and Conspiring to Commit Additional Robberies

NEWARK, N.J. – Two Brooklyn, New York, men admitted their roles in three gunpoint robberies of check cashing locations in different parts of New Jersey in 2021 and 2022, as well as conspiring to commit robberies in New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced today.

Ramel Harris, 42, of Brooklyn, and Neville Brown, 40, of Brooklyn, pleaded guilty on Aug. 14, 2024, before U.S. District Judge Claire C. Cecchi in Newark federal court to three counts of an indictment charging them with Hobbs Act conspiracy, Hobbs Act robbery, and using, carrying, and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, namely the Hobbs Act robbery.

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

Between January 2021 and January 2022, Harris and Brown attempted to rob a check cashing location in Nanuet, New York, and thereafter successfully robbed three check cashing locations in different parts of New Jersey while brandishing a firearm and using zip ties to restrain employees at each location. During those robberies, Harris and Brown stole over $578,00.     

Law enforcement learned that the conspirators surveilled check cashing locations in the following locations: Mount Kisco, New York, Allentown, Pennsylvania and West Chester, Pennsylvania. Law enforcement obtained video surveillance footage that ultimately linked Harris and Brown to the robberies. Cell phone records indicate that Harris’s and Brown’s cellular telephones were around the locations of the various robberies around the times that they were committed.

The Hobbs Act conspiracy and Hobbs Act robbery counts each carry a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison. The brandishing of a firearm during a crime of violence count carries a maximum potential penalty of life in prison and a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years in prison, which must run consecutively to any other term of imprisonment imposed. Each count also carries a fine of up to $250,000 fine, or twice the gain or loss from the offenses, whichever is greatest. Sentencing for both defendants is scheduled for Dec. 17, 2024.

U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited members of the FBI’s New Jersey field office, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge James E. Dennehy; members of the FBI’s New York field office, under the leadership of Assistant Director In Charge James Smith; members of the FBI’s Philadelphia field office, under the leadership of Special Agent in Charge Wayne A. Jacobs; members of the Hackettstown Police Department, under the direction of Police Chief Aaron Perkins; members of the Old Bridge Police Department, under the leadership of Chief of Police Thomas J. Montagna; members of the Parsippany-Troy Hills Police Department, under the leadership of Police Chief Richard Pantina; members of the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office, under the leadership of Prosecutor Robert J. Carroll; members of the Clarkstown Police Department, under the leadership of Police Chief Jeffrey Wanamaker; members of the Westchester County (New York) Department of Public Safety; and members of the Borough of West Chester (Pennsylvania) Police Department, with the investigation leading to the charges.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Levin, Co-Chief of the General Crimes Unit in Newark.