Shawn Harewood, the childhood friend and mastermind of Safaree getting robbed for jewelry totaling over $180,000.00 has been sentenced to 18 years in prison. The incident occurred in 2018 in Fort Lee, New Jersey in the parking lot of Safaree's apartment complex.
Shawn Harewood was found not guilty of robbing Safaree's companion, conspiracy to commit robbery and weapons charges. However, he was found guilty of robbery, eluding and resisting arrest, back in July.
Harewood was described by the prosecution as the mastermind of the armed robbery, which stripped Safaree of $180,000 in jewelry, noting that when Harewood got on the stand to testify, he lied to the jury about his involvement, saying he was intoxicated at the time. However, Brian Neary, attorney for Harewood, said the verdict refuted the state's theory of Harewood as the mastermind of the robbery.
Bergen County Assistant Prosecutors Joe Torre and Meg Kilzy were able to argue successfully that the robbery and eluding were separate crimes that affected different victims. Judge Gary Wilcox sentenced Harewood to 18 years in prison, agreeing with the prosecution that Harewood's sentences should run consecutively rather than concurrently. The judge said that although the crimes happened close together in time, they were separate.
Wilcox's sentencing included the maximum amount of time he could give for the eluding charge, which is 10 years, but he gave eight years for the robbery charge rather than the full 10 years.
The eluding charge comes with a five-year mandatory parole ineligibility. Harewood already has four years served and is required to serve at least 85% of the robbery sentence.
"We are very pleased with the outcome and thankful that justice was served for Safaree Samuels," Torre and Kilzy said in a joint statement. Neary said sentencing can be complicated, "particularly when there are several counts and several defendants, the test is if the sentencing is fair," Neary said. "Mr. Harewood will consider the court's calculation of his sentence and consider an appeal of the consecutive sentence." Before Harewood received his sentence from Wilcox, he provided a statement to the court. He apologized to "all involved" and said he made some "bad decisions" that he was "not proud of."
"These moments do not define me, and they're not reflective of me," Harewood told the court.
Torre and Kilzy were not moved by Harewood's statement. Kilzy said Harewood did not take any responsibility for his actions and that he was not even able to say Safaree's name during his apology. Kilzy pointed out that Harewood tracked Safaree's movements and hired two men to rob Samuels before attempting to flee the scene across the George Washington Bridge.
Both Torre and Kilzy pointed to a number of financial-related crimes committed by Harewood in the past and his lack of remorse as a risk that he would reoffend. Neary tried to argue before Wilcox that providing a consecutive sentence would be a hardship because of his 17-year-old daughter, but the prosecution said he didn't take her or his family into account when the crime was committed. "His daughter is essentially an adult," Kilzy said. "She was 13 at the time of his arrest in 2018."
Torre pointed to Harewood's actions in and out of court as showing his true character, such as refusing to leave his cell or refusing to sit down when asked by Wilcox. Torre said Harewood would blame Neary for things, saying he hadn't seen items from discovery.
"Harewood's character is comprised of deceit, fraud and untruthfulness," Torre said.
Harewood was retried after a mistrial due to his former attorney's withdrawal from the case because of a personal matter. Harewood's second trial started at the beginning of June.
Tacuma Ashman, Harewood's cousin, was convicted in 2021 of first-degree robbery, weapons charges and resisting arrest in the case, and his accomplice, Carl Harry, pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge in 2019.