The Asbury Park Press reports: Lakewood, NJ – A 20-year-old man was sentenced Friday to 30 years in prison for a pair of violent, bias-motivated robberies that targeted Orthodox Jews.

Superior Court Judge James Den Uyl imposed two, 15-year prison terms on Devon Hardy of MacArthur Street and ordered that they run consecutively.

The prison terms are for two, separate incidents of bias intimidation that Hardy pleaded guilty to in August. In both incidents, on May 25 and July 8 last year, Hardy also pleaded guilty to armed robberies that authorities said targeted Orthodox Jews.

Den Uyl sentenced Hardy to a total of 23 years for the robberies and ordered that he serve 85 percent of the 23 years, or about 19 1/2 years, before he can be considered for release on parole, under the state’s No Early Release Act for violent criminals.

The sentence for the robberies will run simultaneously with the terms for bias intimidation, which has no restrictions on parole consideration.

When pleading guilty to the crimes, Hardy said an accomplice, Jose Diaz, selected the Orthodox Jewish men as victims because he knew them to be easy targets.

The first victim, David Davidovish, 38, was visiting from Israel when Hardy assaulted him with a bat and robbed him as the victim sat in a car in front of a convenience store on Route 9, as first reported HERE on YWN. He suffered a broken nose and required stitches, said First Assistant Ocean County Prosecutor Ronald DeLigny said. Several hundred dollars and a laptop computer were stolen from him.

The second victim was Rabbi Yaakov Goldbaum, 41, whom Hardy admitted stabbing twice as he stood outside his home in Lakewood, talking on a cell phone as first reported HERE on YWN. DeLigny said Hardy was accompanied by Diaz and Timothy Swift, 19, of Toms River, and that the accomplices punched Goldbaum and stole his wallet.

Swift pleaded guilty to robbery in the Goldbaum case and was sentenced last week to 10 years in prison with a requirement that he serve 85 percent of the term before he can be considered for release on parole.

Diaz, 32, of Lakewood has admitted roles in both incidents and is awaiting sentencing.

(Source: APP)