A 40-year-old Toms River man was sentenced this week in connection with his armed robbery conviction, according to the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office.
On Feb. 14, before Judge Wendel E. Daniels, Armando Penales was sentenced to 12 years in State Prison subject to the No Early Release Act, which means he has to serve 85 percent percent of his sentence before being parole-eligible.
The sentence is the result of a guilty plea entered in September of 2013 to three counts of Armed Robbery that occurred in January of 2011.
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The sentence stems from three armed robberies by Penales of two different 7-11 Stores in Toms River located on Routes 166 and 37. In the first robbery (1/12/11), he was armed with a butcher knife. In the two following robberies (1/22/11 and 1/27/11), he was armed with a shotgun.
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Toms River Detectives Mark Bajada and John Bajcic are to be commended for their excellent police work which led to the defendant’s arrest on January 27, 2011. Penales has been continuously incarcerated since his arrest.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant Ocean County Prosecutor Michelle Armstrong, ESQ.
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