Ohio man admits to armed robbery of Orange store

ORANGE, NJ — An Ohio man admitted on Feb. 7 that he robbed a mobile communications company retail store in Orange at gunpoint in June 2016, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.

Frederick A. White, 46, pleaded guilty to one count of Hobbs Act robbery and one count of brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence before U.S. District Judge Claire C. Cecchi in Newark federal court after opening statements in his trial had concluded.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court, on the afternoon of June 11, 2016, White entered a mobile communications company retail store in Orange wearing a wig and brandishing a handgun. White stole cash from an employee of the store and fled. He was arrested a short while later after a foot pursuit by the Orange Police Department.

White previously had been convicted of multiple counts of armed and attempted carjacking and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence in federal court in Newark in 1993.

Pursuant to the terms of the parties’ agreement, White will be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 25 years and one day, followed by a term of supervised release of five years.

Carpenito credited special agents of the FBI and the Orange Police Department for their assistance with the investigation leading to this guilty plea. He also thanked the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office for its assistance.