6½ Years For Robber Who Posed As Sheriff's Officer In Paterson Home Robbery

Clemente R. Carlos, 30, will have to serve nearly all of the time: The federal prison system doesn't have parole.

Carlos admitted in U.S. District Court in Newark last December that he and 34-year-old ex-con Jason Thompson of Paterson conspired with an unidentified getaway car driver to hold up the resident who lived there because they believed he kept money from his business there.

It was around 7 a.m. on Aug. 12, 2015 when, he said, he and Thompson -- both dressed in Passaic County sheriff’s uniforms -- accosted a woman as she left the residence with her baby.

They led her back inside, where, Carlos said, Thompson pulled out a gun and pointed it at the woman's sleeping brother.

"Thompson then used a zip-tie to restrain the man’s hands behind his back and instructed him to kneel on the floor," Acting U.S. Attorney William Fitzpatrick said. 

One of the robbers also “broke open a piece of furniture” looking for money and “threatened to kill the residents if they did not comply with their instructions.

"After searching the apartment and failing to find the money they were looking for, Thompson and Carlos left the residence," he said. 

A federal grand jury in Newark indicted Thompson on March on robbery and conspiracy charges, as well as weapons offenses that include being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.

Fitzpatrick credited the FBI and members of the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office for making the case. He also thanked the county sheriff’s office and Paterson police for their assistance.

Handling the case for the government is Assistant U.S. Attorney Jamari Buxton of Fitzpatrick's Organized Crime/Gangs Unit in Newark.

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