A career criminal with a long rap sheet — who goes by the street name “Chief” — was sentenced to life in prison this week.

Not for murder. Not for violence. For smokes and quick cash.

Frederick Owle, 49, of Mount Holly, had been arrested 21 times for assault, theft and weapons during his criminal career and was sentenced to life in prison this week for two robberies that netted a pack of cigarettes and $500 in cash, the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office announced.

Owle robbed a Florence convenience store at knifepoint in 2017. He first asked a Wawa clerk for a pack of Newports, and when she handed them over, he pulled a knife and demanded cash. Instead of doing that, she got on the store loudspeaker and announced the robbery.

Owle grabbed the smokes and ran.

He then robbed a nearby Valero gas station. He wore a mask and wielded a pipe for this job, making off with the $500, prosecutors said.

He was arrested hours later in a Burlington Township motel.

Owle was found guilty in January on two counts of first-degree robbery and weapons charges, and prosecutors argued for an extended sentence because of his violent history.

Superior Court Judge Philip E. Haines obliged and sentenced Owle to life on one robbery count and a concurrent 17-year term for the other. A life sentence equates to 75 years in prison.

This was Owle’s ninth Superior Court conviction.

Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina said this sentence wasn’t about what Owle took in his final robberies.

“On the surface, it might appear that Mr. Owle is going to spend the rest of his life in prison for stealing a pack of cigarettes and a few hundred dollars, but the justification for this sentence is irrefutable,” Coffina said in a statement. “This defendant has demonstrated total disregard for the law and safety of others time and time again, which warrants the tough sentence we sought.”

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