Long Island Man Pleads Guilty in Armed Robbery of Woodbridge T-Mobile Store

A Long Island man who was charged in connection with the armed robberies of four T-Mobile stores and seven Radio Shacks in New York and New Jersey pleaded guilty on Wednesday, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Leonard Arrington, 27, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robberies and one count of using a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, officials said.

Initially, Arrington was charged only in the robbery of the T-Mobile store in Woodbridge on Oct. 2, 2012. He was arrested on May 22 of this year, and has been in custody since his arrest, officials said.

Arrington also allegedly conspired with others to rob T-Mobile stores in Hempstead and West Hempstead, New York, and Linden, New Jersey, as well as Radio Shacks in New Rochelle, Westbury and Rockville Center, New York between May 30, 2012 and Oct. 2, 2012, officials said.

He and accomplices allegedly stole merchandise with the intent to illegally resell them. According to officials, store employees were threatened at gunpoint and otherwise restrained during robberies.

By pleading guilty, Arrington states he and another man entered the T-Mobile Store in Woodbridge in possession of a gun, locked the front door, tied employees up in the back of the store and stole about 40 cell phones, officials said.

They then left after another man arrived in a Land Rover, and the stolen phones were delivered to a cell phone store in Brooklyn, officials said.

Arrington pleaded guilty to all robberies, officials said.

The conspiracy charge carries with it a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison, while Arrington faces the possibility of life in prison for the firearm charge. The minimum mandatory penalty for the firearm charge is seven years in prison. Each count also carries a maximum fine of $250,000.

Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 22, 2014. The sentences must run consecutively.