MORRIS COUNTY, NJ – Two New York City men have confessed to their involvement in a multi-state crime spree that included the 2021 armed robbery of a check cashing business in Morris County.

Ramel Harris, 42, and Neville Brown, 40, both of Brooklyn, New York, pleaded guilty in federal court in Newark on Aug. 14 to three counts: conspiracy under the Hobbs Act, robbery under the Hobbs Act and use of a firearm during a crime, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for New Jersey.

The Hobbs Act is a law that allows prosecutors to bring federal charges for robberies that affect interstate commerce.

The charges relate to a series of crimes from January 2, 2021, to September 3, 2022, said U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger.

The series involved the robbery or attempted robbery of check cashing locations in several locations, including Hackettstown, Parsippany-Troy Hills and Old Bridge in New Jersey; the Bronx, Rockland (Nanuet) and Westchester (White Plains) in New York; Kings County on Long Island; and West Chester and Allentown in Pennsylvania.

Prosecutors said Harris and Brown used a similar method in both crimes as described in an earlier criminal complaint. The men attacked check-cashing locations on Saturday mornings and bound the clerks with zip ties.

Investigators reported that the men targeted an unnamed check cashing business in Parsippany shortly after 8:30 a.m. on April 10, 2021.

During the robbery, one of the robbers pulled out a gun, grabbed an employee and ordered him to unlock a door. According to investigators, he threatened to shoot him if he did not follow his orders.

According to court documents, the robbers took the employee’s keys, tied his hands with zip ties while he lay facedown on the floor, and stole more than $300,000 in the robbery.

In total, the duo stole more than $578,000 in all three robberies, prosecutors said.

Law enforcement managed to obtain surveillance camera footage that linked Harris and Brown to the crimes. In addition, cell phone records showed that their phones were near the locations where the robberies took place at the time of the robberies.

The conspiracy and robbery charges under the Hobbs Act each carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. The charge of use of a weapon during a violent crime carries a maximum sentence of life in prison, with a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years to be served consecutively to any other prison sentence.

In addition, each count may be punishable by a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the gain or loss resulting from the offenses (whichever is greater).

Sentencing for Harris and Brown is scheduled for December 17, 2024.