TOMS RIVER – A Brick Township woman has been sentenced to state prison for robbing a convenience store in Berkeley Township nearly a year ago.
Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said 37-year-old Jessica Napolitano was given a five-year term in New Jersey State Prison after pleading guilty to robbery in connection with the October 2024 incident. Superior Court Judge Kenneth T. Palmer handed down the sentence September 26.
Under the state’s No Early Release Act, Napolitano must serve at least 85 percent of the sentence before she is eligible for parole. She also received a concurrent three-year sentence on a burglary charge tied to the same case.
Authorities said Napolitano entered The Corner Store on Ocean Gate Drive around 4:20 a.m. on October 15, 2024, displayed a knife, and demanded money and cigarettes. After taking cash and cigarettes from the clerk, she fled.
Investigators later determined that minutes earlier, Napolitano had smashed a window at a nearby Dollar General on Atlantic City Boulevard in an attempt to steal cigarettes but left empty-handed.
Police identified her as the suspect, and she was arrested in Lakewood without incident.
Billhimer credited Senior Assistant Prosecutor Taylor Toscano, Assistant Prosecutor Genna Moscato, and officers from the Berkeley and Lakewood police departments for their roles in the case.
