New Jersey Burglary & Robbery Defense
Burglary and robbery charges are prison-exposure cases.
These aren't municipal court matters. Burglary runs from third degree up to first (a 2024 law made home burglaries second degree and armed home invasions first), robbery starts at second degree with an 85% parole bar, and the difference between degrees often comes down to facts the defense can fight.
Two Different Crimes
Burglary is about entry. Robbery is about force.
People say "robbed" when a house is broken into, but New Jersey law draws a hard line. Burglary is an offense against a structure: entering without permission with a criminal purpose. Robbery is an offense against a person, a theft carried out with force or the threat of it. They're charged under different statutes, graded differently, and defended differently.
Both are indictable crimes prosecuted in the county Superior Court, and both are frequently overcharged. Prosecutors routinely file the highest degree the facts might arguably support and negotiate from there. A shoplifting incident where a security guard was pushed on the way out the door can be charged as second-degree robbery, and an argument inside an ex's apartment can produce a burglary count. Part of defending these cases is forcing the charge back down to what the evidence supports, because each degree is a different world of exposure.
Burglary — N.J.S.A. 2C:18-2
Burglary: entry plus purpose
Burglary is entering, or surreptitiously remaining in, a structure without permission, with the purpose to commit an offense inside. "Structure" is read broadly: homes, businesses, garages, even cars and boats can qualify. No breaking, no theft and no victim present are required.
Burglary of a non-residential structure is a third-degree crime: 3 to 5 years of exposure and a fine of up to $15,000. For a first offender that's not as bleak as it sounds, since third-degree crimes carry a presumption against imprisonment and diversion through Pretrial Intervention may be available. It becomes second degree, 5 to 10 years with a presumption of imprisonment, if the actor inflicts, attempts or threatens bodily injury, or is armed with a deadly weapon or explosives.
Homes are treated differently now. Under a law signed in October 2024, burglary of a residence is its own second-degree crime, residential burglary (N.J.S.A. 2C:18-2.2), and committing it while armed or while inflicting or threatening injury is first-degree home invasion burglary (N.J.S.A. 2C:18-2.1), carrying 10 to 20 years. Both new offenses fall under the No Early Release Act's 85% parole bar. Charging decisions under this framework are still settling in, which makes early, aggressive defense work on the degree of the charge more important than ever.
The core defense issue in most burglary cases is purpose at the moment of entry. Entering without permission but with no criminal purpose is criminal trespass, a disorderly persons offense or fourth-degree crime, not burglary. Disputes between exes, former roommates and family members about who was allowed in, and why someone was there, sit at the heart of many burglary files. So do claims of permission, mistaken identification and statements taken before a lawyer was involved.
Robbery — N.J.S.A. 2C:15-1
Robbery: theft plus force, and NERA time
Robbery is committed when, in the course of a theft, a person inflicts bodily injury or uses force on another, threatens or purposely puts another in fear of immediate bodily injury, or commits or threatens any first- or second-degree crime. "In the course of" includes the getaway. Force used while fleeing a shoplifting turns a retail theft into robbery.
| Charge | What elevates it | Prison range | Parole ineligibility |
|---|---|---|---|
| Second-degree robbery | Force, injury or threats during a theft | 5–10 years | 85% of the sentence (NERA) |
| First-degree robbery | Attempt to kill, serious bodily injury, or armed with / uses / threatens a deadly weapon | 10–20 years | 85% of the sentence (NERA) |
Robbery is an enumerated offense under New Jersey's No Early Release Act: a convicted defendant must serve 85% of the sentence imposed before becoming eligible for parole, followed by a mandatory period of parole supervision after release. There's no rounding down and no early-release program that overrides it. That's why the degree of the charge, and whether robbery is even the right charge, are worth fighting over with everything available.
Burglary & Robbery Questions
What people ask us about these charges
What’s the difference between burglary and robbery?
They are completely different crimes. Burglary (N.J.S.A. 2C:18-2) is entering or staying in a structure without permission with the purpose to commit an offense inside; no one needs to be present and nothing needs to be taken. Robbery (N.J.S.A. 2C:15-1) is theft accomplished by force, injury or the threat of it against a person. Burglary of a non-residential structure starts as a third-degree crime, but since a 2024 law, burglary of a home is graded second degree and 'home invasion burglary' first degree. Robbery starts at second degree and only goes up.
I didn’t take anything. How can this be burglary?
Because burglary doesn’t require a theft. The crime is complete the moment you enter without permission with the purpose to commit an offense inside, whether or not anything was taken or any offense carried out. That also means intent is the battleground: the State has to prove what you were thinking when you crossed the threshold, and entering without criminal purpose is trespassing, a far lesser charge.
How much time am I looking at on a robbery charge?
Second-degree robbery carries 5 to 10 years in state prison and first-degree robbery 10 to 20 years. Robbery is also covered by the No Early Release Act, which requires serving 85% of the sentence before parole eligibility, followed by a mandatory term of parole supervision. Second-degree crimes carry a presumption of imprisonment even for first offenders, which is why these cases must be fought from day one.
What makes a robbery first degree instead of second?
Robbery becomes a first-degree crime if, in the course of the theft, the actor attempts to kill, purposely inflicts or attempts to inflict serious bodily injury, or is armed with (or uses or threatens the immediate use of) a deadly weapon. Those upgrade facts are exactly where the defense fights. What counts as a deadly weapon, what was said or displayed, and what the injuries really were often separate a 10-to-20-year case from something far more defensible.
Facing a value-based theft charge instead? Start with our theft defense overview. If a weapon allegation is part of your case, see gun and weapons charges.
How We Defend These Cases
Where burglary and robbery cases are won
High-exposure charges get the full-file treatment: every report, every video, every identification procedure, every word attributed to our client.
The upgrade facts
Was the object really a deadly weapon? Was the injury "serious bodily injury" in the statutory sense? Was a threat actually made? The facts that separate first from second degree, and robbery from theft, are contestable in almost every case.
Identification
Robbery and burglary cases lean heavily on eyewitness identifications and cross-racial, high-stress observations. New Jersey courts recognize how unreliable these can be, and suggestive photo arrays and show-ups can be challenged before trial.
Intent and permission
Burglary requires criminal purpose at entry; robbery requires theft. Claim-of-right facts, permission disputes and honest explanations for presence can collapse the charge into something far smaller, or nothing.
Searches and statements
Warrantless entries, car searches, phone dumps and un-Mirandized statements are all suppression targets. In accomplice cases, we also fight the State's attempt to hang a co-defendant's conduct on our client.
The State is already building its case.
Before you talk to detectives, talk to us. What gets said and preserved in the first weeks shapes everything after, and the consultation is free and confidential.
Legal information on this page reviewed July 2026 against current New Jersey statutes. Laws change; nothing here is legal advice for your specific case.