A New Jersey man who helped rob a jewelry store in Jersey Gardens mall at gunpoint in 2017 has been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison.
William Valentin, 43, of Newark will also be subject to five years of supervised release following his prison stint, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for New Jersey said Wednesday.
The brazen heist at 10 a.m. on Sept. 5, 2017 was captured on the Jewelers on Fifth Jewelry Exchange’s surveillance video and shows Valentin and three other masked robbers race into the store with guns drawn on employees. They quickly emptied safes of what was described by police as a “large quantity of jewelry” at the time of the robbery.
The four men fled on foot through the Burlington Coat Factory inside the mall and jumped into a black Audi, authorities said.
Valentin was arrested in January 2018 in Holyoke, Massachusetts, with a backpack full of jewelry from the heist, authorities said.
He was convicted in February 2019 of conspiring to commit Hobbs Act robbery, Hobbs Act robbery, brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence conspiring to use a firearm during a crime of violence.
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NJ Advance Media staff writer Matt Dowling contributed to this report.
Jeff Goldman may be reached at [email protected].
