Newtown Man Charged with Armed Bank Robbery

Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that on October 11, 2017, a federal grand jury in New Haven returned an indictment charging JOHN J. McCARTHY, 63, of Newtown, with one count of armed bank robbery.

McCARTHY appeared today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah A. L. Merriam in New Haven and entered a plea of not guilty to the charge.

As alleged in the indictment, on August 24, 2017, McCARTHY, armed with a large knife, robbed a branch of Bank of America located on Queen Street in Newtown.

McCARTHY has been detained since his arrest by Newtown Police on August 24.

On January 28, 1994, McCARTHY was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Waterbury to 235 months of imprisonment and five years of supervised release for possession of a firearm by a previously convicted felon.  He was released from federal prison in March 2017 and is currently on supervised release.

If convicted of the charge, McCARTHY faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 25 years.  He also faces an additional term of imprisonment if he is found to have violated the conditions of his supervised release.

U.S. Attorney Daly stressed that an indictment is not evidence of guilt.  Charges are only allegations, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This matter is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Newtown Police Department.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John H. Durham.