A Union County jury has returned guilty verdicts against a Plainfield man who robbed a check cashing store a little more than two years ago, acting Union County Prosecutor Grace H. Park announced Thursday.
Thomas H. Outland, 48, was convicted on charges of second-degree robbery and second-degree conspiracy to commit robbery after several hours of jury deliberation following a two-week trial before state Superior Court Judge Scott J. Moynihan.
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.
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 on the date of the incident in order to lure her out of the secure teller area. Once she went to retrieve the coffee, the two other suspects attacked her and the robbery ensued.
Sentencing in the case has been scheduled for June 24, 2016 before Judge Moynihan.
At that time Outland will face a possible extended prison term of 10 to 20 years in state prison due to prior convictions.