Armed Robberies Land Newark Man in Prison for 9 Years

A Newark man was sentenced Friday to nine years in prison for two 2012 Union Township convenience store robberies.

Nequan Stover, 22, was sentenced to nine years and must serve at least 85 percent of the term before being eligible for parole, State Superior Court Judge Scott J. Moynihan ruled.

According to Acting Union County Prosecutor Grace Park, Stover and another person robbed the One Stop Mini Market on Laurel Avenue in Union Township on June 9, 2012. Stover brandished a handgun, forced his way into the store clerk's booth, assaulted the employee and made off with $1,000 in cash, Park said.

Stover then robbed the Quick Chek on Morris Avenue where he held up employees and a customer at gunpoint while a juvenile accomplice cleaned out cash registers in the rear office on June 10, 2012, Park said.

Stover was arrested two days later and pleaded guilty in January.

Stover's accomplice in the first robbery has not yet been identified and the juvenile involved in the second robbery is in custody and awaits an appeal of the state's decision to try him as an adult, Park said.