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Tejay Johnson(Photo: ~File)
NEW BRUNSWICK – A former Rutgers University football player pleaded guilty to multiple counts in connection to his participation in three home invasions in which victims, who also were members of the student body, were targeted for drugs and cash.
Tejay Johnson, 26, of Egg Harbor, pleaded guilty to three counts of armed robbery in the first degree, three counts of armed burglary in the second degree and three counts of conspiracy to commit armed robbery in the second degree during a hearing Jan. 3 before Superior Court Judge Dennis Nieves, Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew C. announced Monday.
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Under the terms of a plea agreement reached with Middlesex County First Assistant Prosecutor Christopher L.C. Kuberiet and Middlesex County Assistant Prosecutor Jessica Ma, Johnson will be sentenced to 15 years in a New Jersey state prison subject to the No Early Release Act. Johnson will have to serve 85 percent of the term before he can be released on parole.
As part of the plea agreement, the charges Johnson was facing regarding an assault on Delafield Street on April 25, 2015 have been dismissed.
The sentence is expected to be imposed by Nieves at a hearing March 16.
Johnson was arrested and charged following an investigation by Detective Drew Weiss of the New Brunswick Police Department and Detective Gregory Morris of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office.
A Middlesex County grand jury handed up three separate indictments Dec. 16, 2015, charging Johnson with more than 30 counts, including armed robbery, armed burglary, possession of weapons, theft and conspiracy.
The investigation determined that on April 26, 2015, Johnson was one of three masked men who forced their way into a home on Prosper Street in New Brunswick, while armed, and stole an undisclosed amount of cash and marijuana from five students.
On April 27, 2015, police linked Johnson and two others to a home invasion on Hartwell Street in New Brunswick. The investigation determined that Johnson and another individual forced their way into the home, armed with a bat and a knife, and robbed a student of approximately $900 as well as an undisclosed amount of marijuana.
On May 5, 2015, a third home invasion took place in which Johnson and another man tried to force their way into another student’s room in a dormitory complex at Livingston College in Piscataway.
Both fled when the students targeted in the robbery resisted by closing and locking the door; nothing was stolen in that incident. Three other individuals were involved in the planning and execution of the robbery.
Johnson spent more than three years with Rutgers’ football program but retired due to chronic injuries, former Rutgers coach Kyle Flood announced, in July 2014. At that point, there was talk he could become a student assistant with the program.
As a recruit, Johnson won the NJSIAA Meet of Champions 100-meter race (10.67 seconds) as a junior to earn the unofficial title of fastest athlete in the state.
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