Amherst Woman Sentenced For Bank Robbrey

CONTACT:      Barbara Burns
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BUFFALO, N.Y.-U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul Jr. announced today that Sheila Cassata, 48, of Amherst, NY, who was convicted of bank robbery, was sentenced to 37 months in prison followed by U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Catherine Baumgarten, who handled the case, stated that on December 26, 2013, co-defendant Michael Mitchell entered the First Niagara Bank on Lyell Avenue in Rochester, NY and passed the teller a demand note threatening the use of weapon. The bank teller froze, Mitchell left without money, and got into a car driven by Cassata who drove Mitchell from the area.

On December 27, 2013, Michael Mitchell entered the KeyBank on Amherst Street in Buffalo and passed the teller a demand note and once again threatened the use of weapon. Mitchell received some money, left the bank and again got into a car driven by Cassata.

Two more similar bank robberies occurred on January 3, 2014 at the M&T Bank on Grant Street in Buffalo and on January 9, 2014 at the First Niagara Bank on Abbott Road in Lackawanna, NY. 

The sentencing is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Buffalo Police Department, under the direction of Commissioner Daniel Derenda, the Lackawanna Police Department, under the direction of Chief James Michel, and Rochester Police Department, under the direction of Chief Michael Ciminelli.