Essex county, n.J., man sentenced to 207 months in prison for robbing 10 banks

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 22, 2013

 

Also Discharged Weapon in Furtherance of a Crime of Violence

TRENTON, N.J. – An Essex County, N.J., man was sentenced to 207 months in prison for federal bank robbery charges and discharge of a firearm in connection with bank robbery, United States Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Maurice Richardson, 43, of Irvington, N.J., was arrested Dec. 1, 2010, by officers of the Old Bridge Police Department. He previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Peter G. Sheridan in Trenton federal court to Counts 12 and 13 of the 13-count Indictment charging him with robbing a Capital One Bank branch and assaulting people during the course of the robbery.

Richardson also admitted nine additional bank robberies, for a total of 10, as follows:

Date	Bank	Location
Dec. 14, 2007	Commerce Bank	Morris Township, N.J.
May 31, 2008	Commerce Bank	Rahway, N.J.
July 27, 2008	Commerce Bank	Nutley, N.J.
Sept. 28, 2008	Commerce Bank	Nutley, N.J.
April 6, 2009	Capital One Bank	Marlboro, N.J.
Dec. 21, 2009	Capital One Bank	Marlboro, N.J.
July 3, 2010	Capital One Bank	Hasbrouck Heights, N.J.
Aug. 6, 2010	TD Bank	Howell, N.J.
Sept. 1, 2010	Capital One Bank	Paramus, N.J.
Dec. 1, 2010	Capital One Bank	Marlboro, N.J.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

Richardson entered the banks and gave notes to the tellers, which variously demanded money in large bills, stated that he had a gun, and threatened he would shoot the tellers if they did not comply. Witnesses at some of the robberies observed the defendant leaving the crime scenes in a burgundy SUV.

On Dec. 1, 2010, a Marlboro police officer observed a burgundy Chevrolet Suburban with tinted windows entering Route 9 North from a street adjacent to the Capital One Bank's parking lot. After an approximately one-mile pursuit, the vehicle struck a concrete wall in Sayreville, N.J., and came to a stop. Richardson was apprehended when he got out of the SUV and attempted to flee. A 9 mm bullet was found in the vehicle, and a 9mm handgun was found after a search of the area near where Richardson crashed. It was the third time he had robbed the same bank branch in less than two years.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Sheridan sentenced Richardson fo three years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution of $50,646.

U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge David Velazquez in Newark with the investigation leading to today’s sentence. He also thanked the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office, the Old Bridge Police Department, Sayreville, Police Department, Marlboro Police Department, Howell Police Department, Morris Township Police Department, Rahway Police Department, Nutley Police Department, Hasbrouck Heights Police Department and Paramus Police Department for their roles in the investigation.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney R. Joseph Gribko of the U.S. Attorney's Office Criminal Division in Trenton.

13-035

Defense counsel: Michael A. Armstrong Esq., of Willingboro, N.J.

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