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Salvatore "Sam" Piccolo, 67, was also sentenced on a charge of distributing 216 grams of methamphetamine in Camden County as well as wire fraud for his part in the staged holdup.
Earlier this year, Piccolo admitted in court that he and an accomplice entered a Union pawnshop on April 19, 2014, pretending to sell merchandise made of silver. The business was not named in court documents.
Piccolo, who was wearing a mask, chained the front doors while his accomplice showed a gun. They tied up the owner and robbed the safe, which the business owner later told police contained $60,000 in cash, jewelry and a hand gun.
The business owner submitted a fraudulent claim and received a payment of more than $174,000 later that year, authorities said.
In addition to his prison term, Piccolo was ordered to pay $174,000 in restitution to the insurer, Northland Insurance of Minnesota.
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