Camden Men Sentenced in Cherry Hill, Pennsauken Armed Robberies

A Camden man will spend more than two decades in prison, and his getaway driver will spend eight years in prison, after both were sentenced in a pair of 2010 armed robberies in Pennsauken and Cherry Hill, county Prosecutor Warren W. Faulk announced Tuesday.

Superior Court Judge Gwendolyn Blue sentenced Alexander Belen-Lara, 30, of Camden's Ablett Village Apartments, to 24 years on two counts of first degree armed robbery, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, unlawful possession of a weapon and terroristic threats for the May 31, 2010 incidents on North Park Drive. Under the terms of the sentence, he'll have to serve 85 percent of the time, or about 20 years, five months, before being eligible for parole.

Belen-Lara pulled a Ruger pistol on two men in the two incidents, which occurred just after 10:30 p.m., according to court records. In the Cherry Hill incident, Belen-Lara got out of a white SUV near the Subaru headquarters building, put his gun to the head of his victim and told the man to give Belen-Lara everything he had or he would be shot, according to court documents.

Minutes later, on the Pennsauken stretch of North Park Drive near the Lobster Trap, Belen-Lara did the same to another victim, according to court documents.

Belen-Lara's getaway driver in both incidents, Fred Belen, 23, also of Camden, was also sentenced in the case, receiving eights years for second-degree conspiracy and two counts of third-degree theft.

Both men were found guilty in December 2012.