Tewksbury Man Sentenced to Five Years in Prison for Bank Robbery

BOSTON – A Tewksbury man was sentenced in federal court in Boston for the September 2020 robbery of a Santander Bank branch in Tewksbury.

Nicholas O’Neil, 40, was sentenced by U.S. Senior District Judge William G. Young to five years in prison and three years of supervised release. In February 2023, O’Neil pleaded guilty to one count of bank robbery.

Just before 10 a.m. on Sept. 22, 2020, an individual – later identified as O’Neil – entered a Santander Bank branch in Tewksbury, handed the teller a demand note and a red cloth bag. After obtaining cash from the teller, O’Neill exited the bank and sped away in a white pickup truck which was reported to police by a banking customer who had observed the robbery and followed the vehicle. The pickup truck was located a short time later and O’Neil was arrested without incident. The red cloth bag containing the stolen cash and demand note was found inside the vehicle.

Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy; Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; and Tewksbury Police Chief Ryan M. Columbus made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Benjamin Tolkoff and John J. Reynolds III of the Criminal Division prosecuted the case.