In the United States, robbery is generally treated as an aggravated form of common law larceny. Specific elements and definitions differ from state to state. The common elements of robbery are:
a trespassory
taking and
carrying away
of the personal property
of another
with the intent to steal
from the person or presence of the victim
by force or threat of force.
The first six elements are the same as common law larceny. It is the last two elements that aggravate the crime to common law robbery.
PUNISHMENTS
The punishment for robbery is affected by a variety of aggravating and mitigating factors. Particularly important is how much harm was caused to the victim and how much culpability the offender had (e.g. carrying a weapon or leading a group effort implies high culpability). Robbery is divided into three categories which are,
in increasing order of seriousness: street or less sophisticated commercial
dwelling
professionally planned commercial.
Robbery generally results in a custodial sentence. Only a low-harm, low-culpability robbery with other mitigating factors would result in an alternative punishment, in the form of a high level community order. The maximum legal punishment is imprisonment for life.
It is also subject to the mandatory sentencing regime under the Criminal Justice Act 2003. Current sentencing guidelines advise that the sentence should be no longer than 20 years, for a high-harm, high-culpability robbery with other aggravating factors.
The "starting point" sentences are:
Low-harm, low-culpability street robbery: 1 year
Medium-harm, medium-culpability street robbery: 4 years
Medium-harm, medium-culpability professionally planned robbery: 5 years
High-harm, high-culpability street robbery: 8 years
High-harm, high-culpability professionally planned robbery: 16 years