Ocean City Man Sentenced For Craigslist Robbery Scheme

A self-described drug addict from Ocean City says he's sorry for using Craigslist to lure victims to Pennsylvania for gunpoint robberies.

Shawn Christopher McShane, 29, who was arrested in January after two gunpoint robberies, was sentenced to serve 12 to 24 years in state prison, the Bucks County District Attorney announced this week.

McShane pleaded guilty to two counts of robbery, one count of aggravated assault and one count of persons not to possess firearms – all first- or second-degree felonies. He also admitted to assaulting a police officer and to illegally possessing a firearm.

“I feel sorry for everyone involved,” McShane told Judge Rea B. Boylan before being sentenced. “I didn’t mean to hurt anyone. My only concern was getting high. I need help.”

McShane told authorities he was using heroin, Xanax and alcohol the night of the robberies.

According to authorities, McShane committed two robberies in January in less than one hour. His victims were prospective car-buyers responding to an ad he had posted on Craigslist.

Authorities say the first victim was a 26-year-old Pennsylvania man, who came to Levittown after he thought he was meeting McShane to buy a car. But when he arrived, McShane directed him to a parking lot, where he pulled out a handgun and demanded money, authorities said.

The victim gave McShane $4,200 in cash, a cell phone and a wallet containing debit cards.

Then, an hour later, McShane accosted two Camden men, ages 39 and 37, who also had answered the car ad. "After instructing them to meet him in the 300 block of Western Avenue, McShane pulled his handgun and forced the men to surrender $4,600 in fifty dollar bills that they had brought to purchase the Honda," authorities said.

McShane's plot was foiled after two detectives spotted a man matching his description at a local bar. "While watching the man, the detectives called the cell phone number that had been used in the Craigslist ad," according to information from the District Attorney's office.

McShane was found to be carrying two bundles of cash totaling more than $5,300, a .45-caliber semiautomatic handgun, the first victim’s driver’s license and debit card, marijuana and more than $600 in his wallet. He was arrested that day.

After being taken to the Bristol Township Police Department, McShane attacked Officer Jason Reilly, authorities said. The officer suffered chest injuries in the attack, Deputy District Attorney Antonetta Stancu said in court.

He was sentenced to serve consecutive six- to 12-year prison sentences for each of the two robberies, a concurrent five- to 10-year sentence for the firearms violation, and a concurrent 18 months to three years for the assault on Officer Reilly.