Any time an individual is charged with a crime in New Jersey, they may find themselves facing serious repercussions. However, there are crimes that can be combined to make the situation that much more severe. Sure any crime is bad, but when an additional element is added to it, the consequences are going to be much worse.
Simple Assault vs. Aggravated Assault
If a person gets charged with simple assault in New Jersey, it usually results in some sort of non-life-threatening injury. However, when the individual who committed the assault used a weapon, the crime will be upgraded from a simple assault to an aggravated assault. Aggravated assaults are much more serious crimes and will actually result in a felony if convicted. This may result in up to 10 years in prison and expensive fines.
Theft vs. Robbery
Another way that a weapon can result in an upgraded crime is a theft turned robbery, for example. If an individual was to knowingly take the property of another individual without the use of any force and without the use of a weapon, it is considered a theft. Sure, being charged with theft is not great but being charged with robbery is even worse. A theft charge is upgraded to a robbery charge in the event that force was used or a weapon was used
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