Man and 13-year-old boy robbed a Chinese food delivery man.
FRANKLIN --A Highland Park man accepted a plea deal on Friday in which he'll be sentenced to 12 years in prison for the 2015 robbery of a Chinese food delivery man that he committed along with a 13-year-old boy who brandished a fake handgun.
Under the agreement, Ernest James, 32, must serve 85 percent of his sentence before being eligible for parole.
Ernest James (Somerset County Prosecutor's Office)James pleaded guilty to first-degree robbery, first-degree employing a juvenile to commit a criminal offense and fourth-degree possession of an imitation firearm. He was facing 20 years if found guilty on the first-degree robbery charge.
James will be sentenced at a yet to be determined date in August by Judge Bruce A. Jones.
Assistant prosecutor William Guhl represented the state in the case.
On June 12, 2015 at 9:37 p.m., Franklin police responded to the area of Canterbury Circle for a report of an armed robbery. The victim told police that while making a delivery at an address on Canterbury Circle he was confronted by two people, authorities said.
One of the alleged assailants, later identified as the juvenile, was wearing a mask and pointed what appeared to be handgun at him. The second, later identified as James, reportedly had a bandana around his neck, authorities stated.
State Police dogs were able to track them to a residence on Cranberry Circle where a homeowner consented to a search and the pair was taken into custody, authorities said.
Detectives allegedly found the imitation handgun, mask, bandana and the Chinese food that the delivery driver had left behind, authorities said.The juvenile, remanded to the Middlesex County Detention Center, has been charged with first-degree robbery and possession of an imitation weapon for an unlawful purpose.
Dave Hutchinson may be reached at dhutchinson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @DHutch_SL. Find NJ.com on Facebook.