Forcefully doing or stealing something is always a crime. And who knows, during the menace, you may commit some serious offence such as molestation, murder or attempt to murder accidentally.

Either way, you are going to get punishment which can be limited imprisonment from a minimum of five years. And in critical cases, it could live a sentence or death penalty. Whatever the case is, if you truly committed the crime, you are bound to accept the punishment. All you can do is hire an experienced personal injury lawyer, tell him the truth and let him handle your case. 

After all, everybody deserves to present their defence in front of the jury board. But the question is how many years of imprisonment may you get for armed robbery. Let’s find the answer.

How many years for armed robbery?

Robbery is a kind of crime in which the criminal steals any valuable substance by threatening or creating havoc by using a firearm. In these cases, if you recognized by the victim or any witness, you are bound to get arrested.

Robbery can happen on streets, banks, shops, or even in homes. There are differences in robbery and extortion. When you use a firearm while robbing, it is called robbery; and if you steal by threatening or manipulation, it is called extortion. In both cases, you will get evicted but with more or less imprisonment.

The minimum punishment is 5 years of imprisonment. However, there is a loophole regarding the punishment, i.e. if the defender is aged from 16 to 21 years old and served no imprisonment before according to the record, there is a special consideration program only for the first-degree robbery.

Moreover, there are divisions in 1st offence and 2nd or 3rd offence afterwards. According to federal rule no. 344 (1) a-

1. In case of 1st offence without any other subsequent crime, it is 5 years of imprisonment
2. If it is not their 1st offence and another subsequent crime is interrelated, then punishment starts with a minimum of 7 years of imprisonment.

There are some example of robbery crimes and their punishments in Canada taken from Wikibooks’ website-

• Extortion (90 days)- the defender slid a note claiming that he had a gun and told the owner to give him oxycontin.
• Robbery (6 years)- two store robberies with a gun+ drug addiction
• Robbery (7 years)- two bank robberies with masks and guns
• Robbery & attempt to murder (12 years)- robbed a store wearing a mask carrying knife and gun; stabbed someone in the face and neck and threatened to murder someone.

What is a firearm?

According to the Criminal Code of Canada, a barreled weapon that can able to shot bullets or harmful chemicals that can injure a body is called a firearm.

Things that can increase your punishment 

When a crime is committed, the police and prosecutors will try to press charges against you by finding out any additional issues they can currently relate to. For that, you need to be aware of what you were carrying such as-

1. Firearm

If you commit the crime while carrying a firearm and did not harm anybody, you are most likely to get a penalty for about 4 years. It is applicable only if you commit the crime once without any other previous charges such as drug addiction or stealing.

2. Relation with Criminal Organizations

If the robbery occurs while carrying a firearm with the partnership or having direction from other criminal gangs, you will get a minimum of 5 years of imprisonment for the 1st offence and 7 years for 2^nd.  It is applicable for crimes such as drug addiction, destroying public properties.

3. Street/ Bank/ Shop Robberies and Extortion

In general, it is difficult to prove the robbery offence comparing with any other crime. During the trial, the witness can get confused about the suspect’s face. Even pictures or videos from surveillance cameras’ evidence can be distorted for the angles and distance.

That is why the police and prosecutor ask for the permission of a limited time for interrogating the suspect. With a minimum of 48 hours, the police need to earn the confession and statement of acceptance from the suspect.

Otherwise, they have to let him go without pressing any charge. During the interrogation process, if any rule violates, he may file a complaint against the authority through an application. 

Sometimes the police need to gather information by searching the home or private property of the suspects. That is why they need to issue a search warrant. So, before letting them do their searching, you have every right to check the warrant.

Conclusion 

The state handles every robbery case according to the severity of the crime. That is why there are variations in the duration of serving the imprisonment. Sometimes age, deformity, and emotional causes can affect your punishment. But everything depends upon what the jury board think of your case.