EAST HAMPTON MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO ROBBERY, KIDNAPPING AND GRAND LARCENY

(SUFFOLK COUNTY, N.Y.) – Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney today announced that an East Hampton man pleaded guilty to an indictment in which he was charged with kidnapping and robbing a woman of thousands of dollars and fleeing to Massachusetts.

“This defendant stalked and preyed upon the victim here and brazenly took by force what did not belong to him,” said Tierney. “His actions demand extensive prison time.”

Jay Rowe, 48, plead guilty today before Judge Richard Ambro to First Degree Robbery, Second Degree Kidnapping and Fourth Degree Grand Larceny. He faces 9 1/2 years in prison and five years of post-release supervision. He is being represented by Colin Astarita and is due back in court on May 19, 2022.

According to court filings and statements by the defendant, on March 8, 2021, defendant followed the victim, who he did not know, around after she went to a bank in East Hampton and withdrew several thousand dollars and ultimately got into her vehicle. He then forced her to a remote location where he demanded her money at gunpoint. The defendant then fled on foot and eventually made his way to the state of Massachusetts where he was arrested.  The defendant’s DNA was found on the victim’s glove box.

The plea agreement includes a forfeiture of the $3,045 in proceeds of the crime that were recovered from the defendant.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Rose Romeo of the Major Crimes Bureau.

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Criminal complaints and indictments are merely accusatory instruments.

Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. No one is above the law.

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