A township teenager has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role in a violent robbery of a rabbi last year. Superior Court Judge James Den Uyl imposed the prison term Friday on Timothy Swift and ordered that he serve 85 percent of the term before he can be considered for release on parole, under the state’s No Early Release Act for violent criminals. Swift, 19, pleaded guilty in July to the robbery. Authorities said that on July 8, 2008, Swift accompanied Jose Diaz, 42, of Seaside Heights and Devon Hardy, 20, of Lakewood to a location in Lakewood where they robbed R’ Yaakov Goldbaum, then 41, in front of his home. Goldbaum was punched and stabbed, and his wallet was stolen.

Hardy and Diaz are awaiting sentencing for robbing Goldbaum and another Yid, David Davidovish. Davidovish was struck with a baseball bat and robbed of his laptop computer and several hundred dollars as he sat in a car in front of a convenience store on Route 9 in Lakewood on May 25, 2008.

Davidovich, then 38 and visiting from Israel, suffered a broken nose.

Authorities said that the trio targeted Frum Yidden because they believed they would be unlikely to resist being robbed. APP