Fontanez, Chan-Guillen Indicted in Violent NJ-NY Robbery Spree

Two Union County men are staring down life behind bars after a federal indictment tied them to a string of violent armed robberies across New Jersey and New York. Jaime Fontanez, 43, and Vincent Chan-Guillen, 30, both of Elizabeth, New Jersey, were hit with a 13-count indictment accusing them of terrorizing convenience and liquor stores from August 2018 through February 2019, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced today in Newark.

The charges include conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery, multiple counts of Hobbs Act robbery, and brandishing and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence. On at least one occasion, Chan-Guillen fired a gun inside a liquor store during a holdup — a weapon later found in his possession. The pair, sometimes working with others, allegedly stormed small retail businesses, with one suspect pointing a loaded firearm at clerks while the other vaulted behind the counter to empty cash registers.

Robberies struck in Bronx and New York counties in New York, and spread through Union, Middlesex, and Essex counties in New Jersey. The coordinated spree targeted vulnerable corner stores, where workers were left shaken — and in some cases, threatened with live gunfire. The FBI, acting on intelligence and fieldwork, tracked the suspects through surveillance and evidence linking them to multiple crime scenes.

Fontanez and Chan-Guillen were first arrested on a criminal complaint on February 21, 2019. They now await arraignment on charges that carry devastating penalties: each Hobbs Act count risks up to 20 years in prison. Brandishing a firearm during a violent crime brings a mandatory minimum of seven years — consecutive to any other sentence — while discharging a firearm hikes that to a mandatory 10 years, with a maximum penalty of life in prison.

Each count also carries a potential $250,000 fine, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense. Prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Newark, specifically Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tracey Agnew and Shawn Barnes, are handling the case. The FBI, under Acting Special Agent in Charge Joe Denahan, led the investigation, with critical support from local forces including the Elizabeth, Rahway, Woodbridge, Bloomfield, Linden, Kenilworth, and Union Township police departments, as well as the N.J. State Police and NYPD.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, under Acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss, also assisted. Despite the mountain of federal charges, Fontanez and Chan-Guillen remain presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. For now, the streets may be safer — but the trauma of those robberies lingers in the communities they hit.