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Whendy Laurencio-Blanco, 24, said she cased the East Rutherford eatery on Dec. 15, 2012 before a partner and two underaged girls wearing Muslim clothing went inside and held it up.
Under questioning by her attorney, John P. Pieroni, Laurencio-Blanco told Superior Court Judge Edward A. Jerejian in Hackensack on Monday that she drove to the Papa John’s and went inside while the other three waited in the car in their disguises.
Laurencio-Blanco has also pleaded guilty to armed robbery in Union County and agreed to eight years in prison there, to be served at the same time as her Bergen County sentence.
As part of the Bergen plea deal, prosecutors agreed not to pursue a Little Ferry nail salon robbery that Laurencio-Blanco was charged with.
She will have to serve at least eight years and four months of the sentence before she’ll be eligible for parole. Once she is released, she’ll remain on parole supervision for five years.
Michael Gomezpolanco, an undocumented immigrant living here illegally, admitted in December that he and Laurencio-Blanco took two 17-year-old girls to the Paterson Avenue Papa John’s in East Rutherford after stopping in Newark to buy their disguises (SEE: Convicted robber admits holding up East Rutherford Papa John’s with women dressed as Muslims).
Gomezpolanco said he was carrying a BB gun and sisters Jessica and Vanessa Morales each had knives when they entered the restaurant, threatened two employees and a customer and took everything they could — including cash from the register and an iPhone.
He said he sold the personal property and shared the proceeds with the Morales sisters but not with Laurencio-Blanco, who stayed in the car.
Gomezpolanco, who already had an extensive criminal record, was sentenced to 10 years in state prison last month. He’s also being sentenced to 12 years for robbery out of Union County, which will run concurrently. He’ll then be deported, authorities said.
The two teens, Jessica and Vanessa Morales, 18 and 19, pleaded earlier and will be sentenced April 11 to between seven and eight years each. They, too, must serve 85% of their sentences.
Assistant Beren County Prosecutor Nicole Eiszner, defense attorney John P. Pieroni, Whendy Laurencio-Blanco (STORY / PHOTOS: Mary K. Miraglia, CLIFFVIEW PILOT Courthouse Reporter)
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