Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney today announced that Emilio Hernandez, 55, of Bay Shore, was sentenced to 15 years in prison after a jury found him guilty of Robbery in the Second Degree and other related charges, for robbing a Bay Shore laundromat in April 2023.
“This defendant had a history of violent felony convictions for prior robberies. The jury properly convicted him, and the judge properly sentenced him to the maximum period of incarceration under the law,” said District Attorney Tierney. “The Suffolk community should know that repeat offenders are held to the utmost consequences.”
The evidence at trial established that on April 11, 2023, Hernandez robbed a laundromat located on the Sunrise Highway Service Road in Bay Shore using a starter pistol while wearing a hat, mask, and sunglasses to disguise himself. He then fled the laundromat in a black Honda and was filmed driving away by a witness. He was stopped by Suffolk County police officers in that same vehicle a short time later near the laundromat. During the stop, police recovered numerous items from the Honda, including cash proceeds from the robbery, the clothing that Hernandez wore as a disguise during the robbery, and portions of the rubber gloves worn during the commission of the crime.
On February 5, 2025, Hernandez was convicted after a jury trial heard before Acting Supreme Court Justice Richard I. Horowitz, for Robbery in the Second Degree, a Class C violent felony, and Aggravated Unlicensed Operation of a Motor Vehicle in the Third Degree, an unclassified misdemeanor.
Hernandez had previously been convicted of five felonies, including violent felonies, and eight misdemeanors. Most recently, in 2011, Hernandez was convicted of Robbery in the Second Degree, a class C violent felony, and was sentenced to eight years in prison followed by five years of post-release supervision. In 1995, he was convicted of Attempted Robbery in the First Degree, a Class C felony, and was sentenced to four to eight years in prison. In 1994, Hernandez was convicted of Robbery in the Third Degree, a Class D felony, and was sentenced to 30 months to five years in prison. In 1989, he was convicted of Attempted Robbery in the First Degree, a Class C felony, and was sentenced to 18 to 54 months in prison.
On March 12, 2025, Hernandez was sentenced to 15 years in prison followed by five years of post-release supervision. He was represented by Michael Blakey, Esq.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys James J. O’Rourke, IV and Alexander D. Sylvan of the Public Corruption Bureau, with special assistance from Assistant District Attorney Pilar O’Rourke of the Appeals Bureau, and the investigation was conducted by Detective Steven Ziegler of the Suffolk County Police Department’s Homicide Squad.
Criminal complaints and indictments are merely accusatory instruments. Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. No one is above the law.