New Hampshire Man Sentence to 141 Months for a String of Armed Robberies

BOSTON – A Salem, N.H. man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Boston to 141 months after pleading guilty to committing six armed bank robberies in the Merrimack Valley area in 2013.

Rafael Beamud, Jr., 34, was sentenced today by U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper on six counts of armed robbery and one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of his crimes.

On Feb. 21, 2013, Beamud walked into a TD Bank in Methuen.  He approached a teller, brandishing a firearm, and ordered the teller to empty the cash drawers, making sure there was no “dye pack” put into plastic bags that he provided.  Beamud threatened to shoot if an alarm was tripped.  The teller placed the money from the drawers into one of the plastic bags and Beamud left the bank, leaving one of the plastic bags behind.  The bag was processed for fingerprints which led to Beamud’s identification.  He was arrested in April 2013 and he confessed to committing a number of armed robberies across three New England states, including Massachusetts.  He is facing additional armed robbery charges in New Hampshire.

The charge of armed robbery provides a sentence of no greater than 25 years in prison, five years supervised release, and $250,000 fine on each count.  The charge of brandishing a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence provides for a mandatory minimum term of seven years in prison with no greater than a lifetime in prison, five years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.  Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties.  Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.  In this case, the parties signed a plea agreement agreeing to incarceration for 141 months to be followed by 5 years of supervised release.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Vincent B. Lisi, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division, made the announcement today.  Assistance was also provided by the Drug Enforcement Administration; Salem, N.H., North Andover, Dracut, and Methuen Police Departments; and the Massachusetts State Police.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Eve A. Piemonte of Ortiz’s Major Crimes Unit.