Forcefully doing or stealing
something is always a crime. And who knows, during the menace, you may commit
some serious offence such as molestation, murder or attempt to murder
accidentally.
Either way, you are going
to get punishment which can be limited imprisonment from a minimum of five
years. And in critical cases, it could live a sentence or death penalty.
Whatever the case is, if you truly committed the crime, you are bound to accept
the punishment. All you can do is hire an experienced
lawyer, tell him the truth and let him handle your case.
After all, everybody
deserves to present their defence in front of the jury board. But the question
is how many years of imprisonment may you get for armed robbery. Let's find the
answer.
How many years for armed robbery?
Robbery is a kind of
crime in which the criminal steals any valuable substance by threatening or
creating havoc by using a firearm. In these cases, if you recognized by the
victim or any witness, you are bound to get arrested.
Robbery can happen on
streets, banks, shops, or even in homes. There are differences in robbery and
extortion. When you use a firearm while robbing, it is called robbery; and if
you steal by threatening or manipulation, it is called extortion. In both
cases, you will get evicted but with more or less imprisonment.
The minimum punishment is
5 years of imprisonment. However, there is a loophole regarding the punishment,
i.e. if the defender is aged from 16 to 21 years old and served no imprisonment
before according to the record, there is a special consideration program only
for the first-degree robbery.
Moreover, there are
divisions in 1st offence and 2nd or 3rd offence afterwards. According to
federal rule no. 344 (1) a-
I.
In case of 1st offence without any other
subsequent crime, it is 5 years of imprisonment
II.
If it is not their 1st offence and another
subsequent crime is interrelated, then punishment starts with a minimum of 7
years of imprisonment.
There are some example of
robbery crimes and their punishments in Canada taken from Wikibooks' website-
·
Extortion (90 days)- the defender slid a
note claiming that he had a gun and told the owner to give him oxycontin.
·
Robbery (6 years)- two store robberies
with a gun+ drug addiction
·
Robbery (7 years)- two bank robberies with
masks and guns
·
Robbery & attempt to murder (12
years)- robbed a store wearing a mask carrying knife and gun; stabbed someone
in the face and neck and threatened to murder someone.
What is a firearm?
According to the Criminal
Code of Canada, a barreled weapon that can able to shot bullets or harmful
chemicals that can injure a body is called a firearm.
Things that can increase your punishment
When a crime is
committed, the police and prosecutors will try to press charges against you by
finding out any additional issues they can currently relate to. For that, you
need to be aware of what you were carrying such as-
1. Firearm
If you commit the crime
while carrying a firearm and did not harm anybody, you are most likely to get a
penalty for about 4 years. It is applicable only if you commit the crime once
without any other previous charges such as drug addiction or stealing.
2. Relation
with Criminal Organizations
If the robbery occurs
while carrying a firearm with the partnership or having direction from other
criminal gangs, you will get a minimum of 5 years of imprisonment for the 1st
offence and 7 years for 2nd. It
is applicable for crimes such as drug addiction, destroying public properties.
3. Street/
Bank/ Shop Robberies and Extortion
In general, it is
difficult to prove the robbery offence comparing with any other crime. During
the trial, the witness can get confused about the suspect's face. Even pictures
or videos from surveillance cameras' evidence can be distorted for the angles
and distance.
That is why the police
and prosecutor ask for the permission of a limited time for interrogating the
suspect. With a minimum of 48 hours, the police need to earn the confession and
statement of acceptance from the suspect.
Otherwise, they have to
let him go without pressing any charge. During the interrogation process, if
any rule violates, he may file a complaint against the authority through an
application.
Sometimes the police need
to gather information by searching the home or private property of the
suspects. That is why they need to issue a search warrant. So, before letting
them do their searching, you have every right to check the warrant.
Conclusion
The state handles every
robbery case according to the severity of the crime. That is why there are
variations in the duration of serving the imprisonment. Sometimes age,
deformity, and emotional causes can affect your punishment. But everything
depends upon what the jury board think of your case.