Robbery Suspect found in Rochelle Park New Jersey
The Trinitarios is a street gang that is made up of predominantly members from the Dominican Republic. This gang is thought to be responsible for many of the armed robberies that have been taking place in certain parts of Bergen County. After engaging in investigations, police officers were able to make an arrest of five members of this street gang who were allegedly involved with a series of robberies that were committed over the span of about four months in Bergen County. At times knives were used in connection with these robberies, however guns were never used. According to reports by authorities, the five arrested members of the Trinitarios were sent to commit even more crimes.
The Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office said that this street gang is “one of the most violent and fastest rising street gangs in the tri-state area”. Of the five that were arrested four were local residents of Hackensack New Jersey. The fifth individual was from a neighboring town, Rochelle Park. Some of the charges that the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office leveled against the defendants included: unlawful possession of a weapon, unlawful possession of a weapon during the commission of a crime, and armed robbery.
These are all very serious charges, with the most serious being armed robbery. The governing statute in New Jersey for armed robbery is N.J.S.A. 2C:15 and as the statute dictates, armed robbery is considered a crime of the first degree (felony). If convicted of this offense alone a defendant will be facing up to twenty years in a New Jersey State Prison. In addition, the defendant’s sentence would be subject to the No Early Release Act (“NERA”), which in short will require the defendant to serve at least 85% of their sentence before they can become eligible for parole.
These are extremely serious charges and if convicted these defendants will almost certainly be facing very lengthy prison sentences. In addition, if any of the defendants are not United States Citizens they will almost certainly be deported after they serve their lengthy prison sentence. If you have any questions with regards to any of these offenses or any other criminal offenses for that matter please contact any one of our Bergen County Offices for a free consultation with any one of our eight criminal defense attorneys.