By: Richard L. Smith
A Newark resident was convicted today for his role in a January 2021 gunpoint robbery of a cell phone store in East Orange, New Jersey, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.
Federal officials said Kenneth Graham, 50, of Newark, was convicted of one count of Hobbs Act robbery and one count of using, carrying, and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.
Graham was convicted following a one-week trial before Senior U.S. District Court Judge William J. Martini in Newark federal court.
According to court documents and the evidence presented at trial:
On Jan. 18, 2021, Graham was in the cell phone store when he pulled out a gun and pointed it at a store employee.
He ordered the employee to place several cell phones from the display case and cash from the register into a bag.
Video surveillance footage near the store showed Graham enter a black Nissan Altima after the robbery and drive away.
A witness confirmed that Graham was the person entering the Nissan Altima after robbing the store.
Historical cell phone records indicate that Graham’s cellular telephone was in East Orange near the store around the time of the robbery, and photographs on Graham’s cell phone showed Graham wearing a sweatshirt with a distinct logo. In the video surveillance footage from the robbery, Graham wore that same sweatshirt.
The Hobbs Act robbery charge carries a statutory maximum of 20 years in prison.
The count of using, carrying, and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence carries a maximum potential penalty of life in prison and, in this case, a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years in prison because Graham was previously convicted in 2007 in connection with three gunpoint bank robberies in New Jersey.
The sentence on this charge must be consecutive to any other sentence imposed. Each count carries a potential $250,000 fine.
CORRECTION: The image of Mr. Kenneth Graham, 35, was erroneously posted in place of the suspect who was convicted Mr. Kenneth Graham, 50.