A Plainfield man who robbed a check cashing store a little more than two years ago has been sentenced to 16 years in state prison, acting Union County Prosecutor Grace H. Park announced Friday.
Thomas H. Outland, 48, will be required to serve at least 85 percent of that sentence before the possibility of parole, according to terms set down Friday morning by state Superior Court Judge Scott J. Moynihan.
In May, a Union County jury had convicted Outland on charges of second-degree robbery and second-degree conspiracy to commit robbery after several hours of jury deliberation following a two-week trial.
The date was April 30, 2014 when Outland and two individuals who remain unidentified overpowered and assaulted the lone cashier working at the Friendly Check Cashing store on the 400 block of Madison Avenue in Plainfield, according to Union County Assistant Prosecutors Armando Suarez and Michael D’Agostino, who prosecuted the case.
After gaining access to the store’s safe, Outland and the two other suspects made off with approximately $35,000 in cash, Suarez and D’Agostino said.
The victim was transported to a local hospital for treatment of significant head and facial injuries.
An investigation involving the Prosecutor’s Office and the Plainfield Police Division determined that Outland, who worked in a separate business inside the same building where the check cashing store was located and was an acquaintance of the victim, brought her coffee that day in order to lure her out of the secure teller area so the robbery could take place.
Outland was sentenced to an extended term due to his prior felony convictions.