Cleveland men charged with robbing Parma bank

A grand jury returned a one-count indictment charging Richard Joseph Beris, 22, and Alexander Nathaniel Penn, 41, both of Cleveland, with one count of aiding and abetting bank robbery, said Carole S. Rendon, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.

The indictment alleges that Beris and Penn robbed the Citizens Bank, located at 5775 Chevrolet Boulevard in Parma, a federally insured financial institution, on August 4, 2016. 

If convicted, the defendant’s sentence will be determined by the court after review of factors unique to his case, including the defendant’s prior criminal record, if any, the defendant’s role in the offense, and the characteristics of the violation.  In all cases, the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum and in most cases it will be less than the maximum.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Seabury Gould, and was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Parma Police Department. 

An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt.  A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.