An Old Bridge man pleaded guilty to the October robbery of a Hazlet Plaza bank, announced Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni.
Stephen A. Fedorka, 3rd, 34, of the Laurence Harbor section of Old Bridge Township, pleaded guilty on Monday to one count of first degree robbery before Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Joseph W. Oxley.
In pleading guilty, Fedorka admitted that on Oct. 28, 2015 he entered the Santander Bank in Hazlet Plaza on Route 36 with the intention of robbing it. Fedorka handed a note to a bank teller indicating he had a handgun and demanding she put all the money from her cashier’s drawers in a bag he handed to her.
After receiving the bag containing an undisclosed amount of cash from the teller, Fedorka fled the scene and ended up at his girlfriend’s nearby residence. At the girlfriend’s residence, Fedorka stole her car and left the area. He was apprehended on Nov. 1, 2015 after returning to his girlfriend’s residence to retrieve some personal items.
Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 16, 2016, before Judge Oxley.
In accordance with the plea agreement, the State will recommend that Judge Oxley treat the first degree crime of Armed Robbery as a second degree offense for purposes of sentencing and impose a 7-year state prison sentence. Any sentence would be subject to the provisions of the "No Early Release Act" (NERA) requiring Fedorka to serve 85 percent of the sentence imposed before becoming eligible for release on parole.
He would also be under parole supervision for an additional five years following his release from state prison.