A Roslyn Heights man pleaded guilty in New Jersey federal court Wednesday to charges stemming from seven armed robberies of electronics stores that he admitted to participating in last year.
Leonard Arrington, 27, admitted before U.S. District Judge Joel A. Pisano that between May 30, 2012 and Oct. 2, 2012, he and three other men robbed three Radio Shack stores and four T-Mobile stores in New York and New Jersey and re-sold merchandise, according to a press release from U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman’s office.
In many instances, the stores’ employees were threatened at gunpoint and tied up during the robberies.
Arrington was arrested at his home on May 22, the fourth suspect nabbed in connection with the robberies.
Terrell McQueen, 29, of Elizabeth, New Jersey, Carl Williams, 29, and Eric Williams, 32 – both from Brooklyn but of no relation – were arrested and charged February 13 for the Sept. 20, 2012 robbery of a T-Mobile store in Linden, N.J. and re-sale of stolen merchandise.
According to the release, two weeks after the robbery, on October 2, the group struck again at a T-Mobile store in Woodbridge, N.J.
Arrington and another man entered the store, locked the front door and took the employees to the back of the store where the robbers tied them up, according to the release. The two men took 40 cell phones and were picked up by a getaway driver in a Land Rover.
According to the release, McQueen, Eric Williams and others then delivered the phones to a Brooklyn store where many of the re-sales were said to have taken place.
The Newark Star-Ledger reported in May that the Samsung Galaxy smartphones the men stole and then re-sold were valued at $24,000.
Arrington had been charged with single counts of conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robberies and using a firearm during a crime of violence. He has been in custody since his arrest, according to Fishman’s office.
The Hobbs Act was passed in 1946 as an amendment to the 1934 Anti-Racketeering Act, to target organized crime activities.
In recent years, the Hobbs Act has been used more commonly against armed robbers victimizing businesses, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Web site.
The conspiracy charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, while the firearm charge carries a maximum life sentence and a minimum of seven years, according to Fishman’s office. Arrington also faces a maximum $250,000 fine on each count.
Arrington will be sentenced on Jan. 22, 2014.
