Morris County, NJ – Melvin Banks, 37, of Somerset, New Jersey, has been sentenced to 50 years in state prison for his role in the armed robbery of a high-end luxury car rental business and subsequent witness tampering. The sentencing took place on April 12, 2024, by the Honorable Claudia Jones, JSC, at the Morris County Courthouse.

Banks received a 30-year sentence for the second-degree conspiracy to commit robbery and first-degree robbery charges, which will run consecutively to a 20-year term for first-degree witness tampering. Additionally, he was sentenced to a concurrent 5-year term for third-degree theft of a motor vehicle.

The charges stem from an incident on December 4, 2021, when Banks and co-defendant Daniel Lind orchestrated a robbery targeting the owner of the rental business. The owner was robbed at gunpoint of approximately $100,000 worth of jewelry and cell phones. Surveillance footage captured Banks and Lind preparing for the crime by purchasing supplies at a local Home Depot earlier that day.

Further complicating Banks’ legal troubles, during the investigation, he threatened the victim and the victim’s family in an attempt to have the charges dropped. This led to the first-degree witness tampering charge. Banks had been held at the Morris County Correctional Facility pending sentencing and will now serve a substantial portion of his sentence before becoming eligible for parole.

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