Skip to main content
Press Release

Essex County, New Jersey, Man Admits Robbing 14 Hotels in New Jersey and New York

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of New Jersey

NEWARK, N.J. – An Essex County, New Jersey, man admitted robbing 14 hotels in New Jersey and New York, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced today. 

Tremone Burnett, 46, of Orange, New Jersey, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Katharine S. Hayden in Newark federal court on Sept. 12, 2018, to two counts of an indictment charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit robbery and threaten physical violence, and one count of using a firearm during a crime of violence.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

From April 24, 2014, through June 19, 2014, Burnett robbed 12 New Jersey hotels and two New York hotels at gunpoint. The New Jersey hotels were located in Carteret, Lebanon, Newark, Rockaway, Secaucus, Avenel, Parsippany, Paramus, Weehawken, and Edison; the New York hotels were located in Airmont and Nanuet. In each robbery, Burnett wielded a handgun and, in some instances, tied the victim’s hands and feet. During one of the robberies, Burnett discharged his firearm.

The count of conspiracy to commit robbery and threaten violence carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. The count of discharging a firearm during a crime of violence carries a maximum penalty of life in prison and a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison, which must run consecutively to any other prison term. Each count also carries a maximum fine of $250,000, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense. Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 18, 2018.

U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Gregory W. Ehrie in Newark; the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Acting Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens II; and the Newark Department of Public Safety, under the direction of Public Safety Director Anthony F. Ambrose, with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea. He also thanked the Carteret, Edison, Lebanon, Rockaway, Parsippany, Weehawken and Woodbridge Township police departments in New Jersey; the Clarkstown and Ramapo police departments in New York; the N.J. State Police; and the Bergen County, Hunterdon County, Middlesex County, and Morris County prosecutors’ offices for their work on this case.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Ferketic of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Public Protection Unit in Newark.

Updated September 13, 2018

Attachment
Topic
Violent Crime
Press Release Number: 18-298