Robbery Lawyer in Hudson County

Reviewed by William A. Proetta, Esq. · Updated October 2026

Robbery under N.J.S.A. 2C:15-1 is a second-degree crime in New Jersey, five to ten years in state prison. It becomes first degree, ten to twenty years, if the person was armed with or threatened to use a deadly weapon, attempted to kill anyone, or purposely inflicted or attempted serious bodily injury. Both degrees fall under the No Early Release Act, N.J.S.A. 2C:43-7.2, so 85 percent of the sentence is served before parole, followed by five years of parole supervision for first degree and three for second. Robbery is also on the N.J.S.A. 2C:52-2(b) list of offenses barred from expungement. There is no municipal court version: the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office screens the complaint and the case goes to the Criminal Division of Superior Court, which sits in the Frank J. Guarini Justice Complex, 24 Central Avenue, Jersey City.

The definition is wider than most people assume. Robbery is a theft, or attempted theft, plus force, injury or a threat of injury, including force used while getting away. A shove past a loss-prevention officer at Newport Centre can turn a $60 shoplifting case into a second-degree crime with a presumption of prison. In more than 15 years of defending robbery cases in Hudson County, the question that most often decides them is not whether something was taken but whether the State can prove force tied to the taking, and if so, which degree. Call (201) 793-8018 for a free case review.

What the State Must Prove

A person commits robbery if, in the course of committing a theft, he does any one of three things:

• inflicts bodily injury or uses force on another person;
• threatens another with, or purposely puts another in fear of, immediate bodily injury; or
• commits or threatens immediately to commit any first- or second-degree crime.

“In the course of committing a theft” includes an attempt and the immediate flight afterward. The Supreme Court reads that phrase literally. Force against a responding police officer, or anyone other than the theft victim, during flight is robbery (State v. Mirault, 92 N.J. 492 (1983)). The theft does not have to succeed; a robbery conviction can stand though the taking failed, and attempted robbery is cognizable (State v. Farrad, 164 N.J. 247 (2000)).

Two limits matter. The intent to steal must exist before or during the force. If the decision to take property came only after an assault ended, the crime is assault plus theft (State v. Lopez, 187 N.J. 91 (2006)). And the force element has its own mental state: the State must prove the defendant knowingly used force or inflicted injury (State v. Sewell, 127 N.J. 133 (1992)).

Second-Degree vs. First-Degree Robbery

The deadly-weapon element is where first-degree cases are won and lost. A “deadly weapon” under N.J.S.A. 2C:11-1(c) includes an object the victim reasonably believed was capable of causing death or serious injury because of how it was fashioned or used. That is how a hand in a jacket pocket can become first-degree robbery. The State must prove words and conduct together simulated a weapon, with a purposeful mental state (State v. Chapland, 187 N.J. 275 (2006); State v. Nero, 195 N.J. 397 (2008)). For a non-firearm, “armed with a deadly weapon” requires a purpose to use it as one (State v. Rolon, 199 N.J. 575 (2009)).

Sentencing: NERA, the Graves Act and the Expungement Bar

A second-degree robbery conviction carries a presumption of state prison under N.J.S.A. 2C:44-1(d). Under the No Early Release Act, a five-year sentence is four years and three months before the Parole Board can act, and a ten-year first-degree term is eight and a half years.

If a firearm was involved, the Graves Act, N.J.S.A. 2C:43-6(c), adds a mandatory minimum and mandatory-weapons exposure. It does not lengthen the parole bar. The Graves minimum is one-half of the sentence, below NERA’s 85 percent, so NERA controls. Firearm robbery is often charged with unlawful possession of a weapon and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, which add separate counts. Restitution is required where there was a loss and an ability to pay.

Because the expungement bar is permanent, a plea to theft from the person or another non-barred offense can be worth more than a sentencing concession on the robbery count. Our Hudson County expungement page explains what can be cleared.

Robbery Charges in Jersey City, Hoboken and Hudson County

These are the patterns we see:

• Shoplifting that becomes robbery. A shopper at Newport Centre is stopped by loss prevention at the door with unpaid merchandise, pulls away, and an officer goes down. Or someone leaving a Washington Street store in Hoboken swings an elbow at the employee who grabs the bag. The theft was a disorderly persons offense; the elbow can make it second-degree robbery because force occurred in immediate flight from a theft, and no injury is required. These are common and often defensible, because the “force” can be incidental contact in a struggle the store employee started.
• Street robberies near transit. Phones and bags taken near Journal Square, the Grove Street PATH station or along the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail, often late at night, with a weak identification and no recovered property.
• Purse and phone snatches. Grabbing a phone from a hand is theft from the person, a third-degree crime, unless the State proves force beyond what was needed to take the item, directed at the victim (State v. Sein, 124 N.J. 209 (1991)). A pull or a stumble can be the difference between a presumption against prison and a NERA sentence.
• Group incidents. Two or three people, one of whom takes something, and the State charges everyone. Accomplice liability requires a shared purpose to facilitate the theft; it cannot rest on conduct after the theft was over (State v. Whitaker, 200 N.J. 444 (2009)).
• Debt collection. Using force to take back money you are owed is still robbery. The claim-of-right defense does not reach robbery (State v. Mejia, 141 N.J. 475 (1995)).

Robbery complaints in Jersey City start with the Jersey City Police Department and are screened by the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office. A downgrade from first to second degree where the weapon evidence is thin, or from robbery to theft where the force is, is easier to reach before indictment than after.

Diversion Runs Through a Downgrade

On a robbery count itself, Pretrial Intervention faces the presumption against admission that Rule 3:28-1 and the case law cited on our theft and fraud hub attach to first- and second-degree charges. The route to diversion is therefore two steps: amend the charge to a third- or fourth-degree theft, then apply with restitution as a condition. That sequence belongs in the first conversation with the assistant prosecutor.

Arrest and Detention Hearings

A robbery arrest generally means a complaint-warrant, booking at the county jail and a first appearance within about 48 hours. Robbery is a detention-eligible offense, and the State must file a motion for detention. At the hearing it must prove by clear and convincing evidence that no conditions will reasonably assure appearance, protect the community and safeguard the process. The defense receives discovery before that hearing, which makes it the first real test of the identification and force evidence. See pretrial release and detention.

Immigration Consequences

Robbery is likely to be treated as a crime involving moral turpitude. It may also be treated as a theft offense and a crime of violence, and a sentence of a year or more is the trigger for an aggravated felony charge under 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43)(F) and (G). That is not automatic. The federal courts compare the elements with the federal definition, and N.J.S.A. 2C:15-1 reaches conduct, such as threatening a first- or second-degree crime, that arguably involves no force, so the divisible subsection charged matters. For a non-citizen, the plea structure matters from day one: a plea to theft from the person or a simple assault with a sentence under a year may avoid the label, while a robbery plea may not.

Defenses to a Robbery Charge

• No force, or force not tied to the theft. Contact incidental to the taking and not directed at the victim is theft from the person, not robbery (Sein). Where force came first and the taking was an afterthought, there is no robbery (Lopez).
• No knowing use of force. Brushing past a store employee in a doorway is not knowing use of force (Sewell). Store video often settles this.
• No deadly weapon. A hand in a pocket without more is contestable under Chapland and Nero, and Rolon requires purpose to use a non-firearm as a weapon.
• Identification. Street robberies often rest on a nighttime, single-witness identification. Show-ups, photo array administration and the reliability factors are litigable at a Wade hearing.
• Accomplice liability. Being present, or leaving with the person who took something, is not robbery without a shared purpose to facilitate the theft (Whitaker).
• Suppression. Stops near PATH stations, show-ups in the back of a patrol car and warrantless phone searches can support a motion to suppress.

Talk to a Hudson County Robbery Lawyer

A robbery charge turns on two elements the State can overstate, force and weapon, and both are best challenged before the grand jury hears the case. If you or a family member was arrested in Jersey City, Hoboken or elsewhere in Hudson County, call William Proetta Criminal Law at (201) 793-8018. We answer 24 hours a day and the case review is free.