Two Men Sentenced to Long Prison Terms for Rooftop Burglary and Armed Robbery of Check-Cashing Store

TRENTON – Two Newark men who were part of a gang of individuals who committed armed robberies of check-cashing stores in Englewood, Parsippany and South River were both sentenced today to 87 months in federal prison, U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie announced.

U.S. District Judge Stanley R. Chesler also ordered Issiah Howard, 38, and Ernest Johnson, 48, to jointly pay $100,000 in restitution for the money stolen during the pistol-whipping robbery of an employee at Garden State Check Cashing in Englewood in September 2001.

The robbery at the check-cashing store occurred after they and others cut a hole in the roof and dropped into the business. FBI and Englewood Police were able to identify Johnson as a robber because of DNA traced from a single hair inside a cap he left behind at the crime scene. Because he was previously convicted on a federal bank robbery charge, his DNA was on file in a national DNA database.

In May of 2003 both men entered guilty pleas and admitted that they and their co-conspirators, Eddie “Rahman” Williams, 34, and Kevin McCray, 46, agreed to rob the check-cashing store. Williams, who pleaded guilty in December 2004, is scheduled to be sentenced on July 25. McCray, who was scheduled for trial in December 2004, is currently being evaluated at a federal medical facility in North Carolina, regarding his mental competency to stand trial. McCray’s trial is postponed pending that evaluation.

Prior to the robbery the men conducted surveillance on the store, chronicling the movement of employees and drop off days and times of armored cars. Williams admitted that he was armed with a handgun supplied by McCray during the Garden State Check Cashing robbery, as well as other robberies.

Howard and Johnson also admitted that the night before the robbery, they cut a hole in the roof of the check-cashing store. Johnson and Williams then waited on the roof for several hours into the next morning until they heard an employee arrive and deactivate the alarm. Johnson and Williams then jumped down through the ceiling into the store brandishing a gun.

Williams pistol whipped the employee in the head, resulting in bleeding for which he received medical attention. Williams and Johnson then forced the employee at gun point to open the store’s safe. After stealing more than $100,000 in cash, Williams and Johnson left through the hole in the roof, and fled to cars being driven by Howard and allegedly by McCray. The employee was left handcuffed and bleeding inside the store.

In August of 2004 a five-count federal Indictment was returned charging Williams and McCray, with conspiracy to rob check cashing stores in Englewood, Parsippany and South River. In December 2004 Williams pleaded guilty to two-counts of the five-count Indictment just as jury selection was about to begin for his trial.

In determining an actual sentence, Judge Chesler consulted the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, which provide appropriate sentencing ranges that take into account the severity and characteristics of the offense, the defendant's criminal history, if any, and other factors. The judge, however, was not bound by the guidelines in determining a sentence.

Parole has been abolished in the federal system. Defendants who are given custodial terms must serve nearly all that time

Christie credited Special Agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Leslie Wiser, Jr. with developing the cases against the above-named defendants.

The Government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Constable of the Special Prosecutions Division in Newark.

Defense Counsel:

Michael Pedicini, Esq., Morristown for Eddie Rahman Williams

David Glazer, Esq., Livingston for Kevin McCray