A Camden man was sentenced to 50 years in prison for robbing a woman at gunpoint in a casino garage and then threatening the victim to keep her from testifying.
Dashand Chase, 23, was found guilty in September of armed robbery and several counts of witness tampering for the August 2009 attack on an Egg Harbor Township woman at Bally’s Atlantic City in which he and an alleged accomplice punched the woman in the mouth and robbed her of her purse and cellphone.
Chase must serve 29 years of his sentence before he is eligible for parole. Assistant Prosecutor Mario Formica handled the case before Superior Court Judge Bernard DeLury.
A jury was unable to reach a verdict against his alleged accomplice, Tony Burnham, 27, also of Camden. The state plans to retry him next year.
The woman received a letter in July 2010 threatening to kill her family if she showed up in court. That letter had the fingerprints of Chase’s cellmate at the Atlantic County jail, the state said. The next February, Chase sent a letter to the victim claiming he was innocent and would pay her $150 to drop the claims.
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