Distinguishing between Aggravated Robbery and Armed Robbery

 Posted on July 05, 2012 in Criminal Defense

Article 18 of the Illinois Criminal Code makes a distinction between what crimes are considered aggravated robbery and what crimes qualify as armed robbery.  While it's possible for an individual to be charged with either when committing a robbery, each charge carries different prerequisites by law.

A person commits armed robbery when he or she:

1. “Carries on or about” their person a firearm or a dangerous weapon.
2. Personally discharges a firearm during the course of the crime.
3. Personally discharges a firearm during the course of the crime that “proximately causes great bodily harm, permanent disability, permanent disfigurement, or death to another person”

Armed robbery is classified as a Class X Felony offense, the highest class of felony in the state of Illinois.  If convicted of armed robbery, a person will have 15-25  years of imprisonment added to his or her sentence.

Aggravated robbery occurs when an individual takes property from another person while using force or threatening to use force through words or actions.  If the accused indicates that they have a weapon including a knife, club, ax, firearm or bludgeon, this counts as aggravated robbery, even if it's determined later that the person did not have a deadly weapon.

The criminal code lists a second scenario that qualifies as aggravated robbery.  If a person “takes property from the person or presence of another by delivering (by injection, inhalation, ingestion, transfer of possession, or any other means) to the victim without his or her consent, or by threat or deception, and for other than medical purposes, any controlled substance, this qualifies as aggravated robbery.”

The sentence for aggravated robbery, a Class X felony, can add 6-30 years imprisonment to an existing sentence, and can carry a $25,000 fine.

Aggravated robbery and armed robbery are serious charges, and each require the services of a trained defense attorney to present the best case in court.  If you have been charged with either crime, contact an experienced Naperville, Illinois criminal defense attorney in Illinois today.