Jewelry heist suspect Angelo Brown ordered held without bail

A Brooklyn man pleaded not guilty Friday to charges that he had participated in the 2011 daylight robbery of a jewelry store in the Americana Manhasset Mall, officials said.

Angelo Brown, 25, was held without bail as a flight risk and a danger to the community by U.S. District Judge Joseph Bianco, officials said.

Brown supposed to be arraigned on Thursday in federal court in Central Islip, but was too sick to appear then, according to his attorney, Anthony La Pinta, of Hauppauge.

Brown drove the men who actually entered the London Jewelers store in October to commit the robbery, according to federal prosecutors Grace Cucchissi and Lara Treinis Gatz.

Brown's alleged accomplice in the crime, Christopher Evans, 29, also of Brooklyn, was arraigned Thursday on the same charges as Brown, robbery conspiracy and the use of a firearm in a crime of violence. Evans also was jailed as a danger to the community and a flight risk.

Evans held the store customers and employees at gunpoint during the robbery while almost $1 million in rare watches were stolen, prosecutors Cucchissi and Gatz said. The watches were recovered near the scene by police.

If convicted, both Brown and Evans face up to life in prison.

Three other participants in the robbery have been convicted in state court and sentenced to up to 25 years in prison. A fourth participant is awaiting trial in state court, officials said.

Prosecutors said the investigation is continuing.