SULLIVAN COUNTY — Sullivan County District Attorney Jim Farrell announced that Tyquan Hilliard, 28, of Brooklyn, N.Y., was sentenced last week in Sullivan County Court by Hon. Stephan Schick in connection with his participation in the robbery of the AT&T store on Jefferson Street in the Village of Monticello in 2018 to an aggregate of 10 ½ years in state prison, to be followed by 5 years of post-release supervision. Hilliard previously entered guilty pleas to Robbery in the 2nd Degree, a class C violent felony and Assault in the 2nd Degree, a class D violent felony, and admitted to robbing the store and causing injury to a responding police officer during flight from the scene. On May 11, 2018, the AT&T store was robbed by two individuals who displayed what appeared to the victims to be a handgun; a large number of cellular phones were stolen and the perpetrators fled the scene in a rented vehicle. The Village of Monticello Police Department immediately responded to the report of the robbery and a member of the police department was injured while attempting to apprehend the defendants as they fled. This officer has fully recovered from the injuries sustained during the pursuit and no one was hurt during the robbery. Also charged in the robbery was Khalif Watson, 24 also of Brooklyn, N.Y. Watson's case is still pending in Sullivan County Court and the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of New York, where he is being prosecuted for a conspiracy to commit multiple robberies of cell phone stores in the New York City metro area, including the AT&T store in Monticello. Both men were arrested after the chase along State Route 17 which ended in Bloomingburg where the rented vehicle was stopped by police and the stolen property was recovered. No real gun was used in the robbery and a BB gun, used by the perpetrators that appeared real, was found in the vehicle with the stolen property.

DA Farrell said, “This defendant came to Sullivan County for the sole purpose of perpetrating a violent crime against innocent people using a fake gun. Thankfully no one was injured in the robbery and the officer who was hurt during the chase has made a full recovery. Now that the court has ordered that Hilliard spend more than a decade behind bars for his serious criminal conduct, it should be clear to those who engage in such criminal acts that the police agencies serving our County will immediately respond, and that my Office is dedicated to holding those who rob innocent people accountable and responsible.”

Farrell commended the officers and detectives of the Village of Monticello Police Department, New York State Police, Sullivan County Sheriff's Office, Town of Crawford Police Department, Town of Wallkill Police Department, Orange County Sheriff's Office, and the police members of his Office for their swift response and diligent investigation of this case. The prosecution of this case was handled by Chief Assistant District Attorney Meagan Galligan.