New jersey man sentenced to 70 months in prison for robbing two hackensack banks
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
January 25, 2011 |
NEWARK, N.J. – A Hackensack, N.J., man was sentenced today to 70 months in prison for robbing two Hackensack banks, United States Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Kemmet Meeks, 48, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge William J. Martini to a superseding Information charging him with two counts of bank robbery. Judge Martini also imposed the sentence today in Newark federal court.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
Meeks admitted robbing a Wachovia Bank on Johnson Avenue in Hackensack on November 3, 2009, of nearly $28,000, and a TD Bank on Essex Street in Hackensack on January 30, 2010, of approximately $13,000.
During the robberies, Meeks and his co-defendant, Eugene Jones, approached the teller counter and demanded money while Jones displayed a gun. Both men wore hooded sweatshirts and face masks. Meeks admitted that he prevented those inside the bank from leaving during the TD Bank robbery.
Meeks was apprehended on February 6, 2010, after authorities, who were conducting surveillance of a van that had been stolen earlier that morning, observed Meeks drop off his codefendant at the stolen van. During a short vehicle pursuit, officers observed Meeks throw a black ski mask and a stolen 9 mm handgun from the vehicle.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Martini sentenced Meeks to three years of supervised release and ordered him to pay restitution in the amount of $27,916.
The case against Jones is pending. The charges and allegations contained in the Indictment charging Jones are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Fishman credited special agents with the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael B. Ward in Newark, and the Hackensack Police Department with the investigation leading to today’s sentence.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Shana W. Chen and Fabiana Pierre-Louis of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Newark.
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Defense counsel: Kenneth W. Kayser, Esq., Livingston, N.J.
FEMA
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced that federal disaster aid has been made available to the State of New Jersey.
FEMA is now accepting applications from residents and business owners who sustained losses in Atlantic County, Cape May County, Essex County, Hudson County, Middlesex County, Monmouth County, Ocean County and Union County.
Register online at
www.disasterassistance.gov , by web-enabled mobile device atm.fema.gov or by calling 1-800-621-FEMA(3362) or 1-800-462-7585 (TTY) for the hearing and speech impaired. The toll-free telephone numbers will operate from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. EDT seven days a week until further notice.
