Ohio Man Admits Armed Robbery of Mobile Communications Company Retail Store

NEWARK, N.J. – An Ohio man admitted today he robbed a mobile communications company retail store in Orange, New Jersey, 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 was 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.

U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Gregory W. Ehrie in Newark, and the Orange Police Department, under the direction of Director Todd Warren and Chief Law Enforcement Officer Vincent Vitiello, for their assistance with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea. He also thanked the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Acting Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens 2nd, for its assistance.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elaine K. Lou and Desiree Grace Latzer of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Newark.