15 Years For Men Who Robbed Old Bridge Check Cashing Business

OLD BRIDGE, NJ — Two Brooklyn men were sentenced Tuesday to 15 years in prison for gunpoint robberies of three check-cashing businesses in New Jersey.

And one of them was the Old Bridge Check Cashers on Englishtown Road, which police say the two men robbed on Nov. 6, 2021.

On that date, Ramel Harris, 42, and Neville Brown, 40, showed a gun, demanded cash and used zip ties to restrain employees.

Both were sentenced Tuesday in Newark federal court to 186 months in prison. Both previously pleaded guilty before Judge Cecchi to three counts of Hobbs Act conspiracy, Hobbs Act robbery, and using, carrying, and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, namely the Hobbs Act robbery.

Between January 2, 2021 through September 3, 2022, they burglarized three check-cashing businesses in New Jersey: Hackettstown, Parsippany-Troy Hills and Old Bridge. They stole more than $578,000 in proceeds from all three.

They also robbed four check cashers in New York state: Bronx, Rockland (Nanuet), Westchester (West Chester), Kings County on Long Island and two in Pennsylvania, West Chester and Allentown.

Old Bridge Police Detective Michael Cronin worked with the FBI as their crime spree spanned three states. Law enforcement obtained video surveillance footage that ultimately linked Harris and Brown to the robberies. Cell phone records indicate that Harris’s and Brown’s cell phones were around the locations of the various robberies around the times they were committed.

Following a months-long investigation that involved search warrants and DNA testing, Harris and Brown were identified and charged with the crimes on September 3, 2022.