Laconia Man Pleads Guilty to Seven Bank Robberies in New Hampshire and Massachusetts

            CONCORD, N.H. – Chaka Meredith, 42, previously of Laconia, New Hampshire, pleaded guilty in federal court to the robberies of seven banks in late 2016 and early 2017, Acting United States Attorney John J. Farley announced today.

            According to court documents and statements made in court, Meredith pleaded guilty to the following crimes:  (1) the December 29, 2016, robbery of a Bank of America branch location in Boston, Massachusetts;  (2) the January 3, 2017, robbery of an East Boston Savings Bank branch location in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts; (3) the January 11, 2017 robbery of a Meredith Village Savings Bank branch location in Laconia, New Hampshire; (4) the January 17, 2017, robbery of a  Santander Bank branch location in Lawrence, Massachusetts; (5) the January 24, 2017 robbery of a TD Bank branch location in Lawrence, Massachusetts; (6) the January 25, 2017 robbery of a Lowell Five Cent Savings Bank branch location in Pepperell, Massachusetts; and (7) the January 30, 2017, robbery of a Santander Bank branch location in Plaistow, New Hampshire.   Meredith has been in custody since his arrest by the Lawrence, Massachusetts Police on February 1, 2017. 

            Meredith was originally indicted for a robbery in Plaistow on March 8, 2017, and his guilty plea today resolves all of his pending charges in both Massachusetts and New Hampshire resulting from the month-long bank robbery spree. 

Meredith is scheduled to be sentenced on May 9, 2018.  As part of his plea agreement, he will be required to pay restitution to the financial institutions he robbed. 

            “The U.S. Attorney’s Office is committed to working with our law enforcement partners to combat violent crime,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Farley.  “This defendant’s crime spree is the type of conduct that creates fear in our communities.  Those who engage in such criminal activities will be prosecuted aggressively in order to protect the safety of the citizens of the Granite State.”

            “Mr. Meredith is finally accepting responsibility for his multi-state crime spree, where very fortunately, no one was harmed.   Due to the close collaboration with our law enforcement partners, we were able to track him down and safely get him off the streets,” said Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Boston Division (FBI). “This case demonstrates the commitment of the FBI’s Violent Crimes Task Force in bringing to justice those who break the law and intimidate hard-working citizens.”

            This matter was investigated by the FBI, the Laconia Police Department, the Plaistow Police Department, the Belknap County Sheriff’s Department, the Brookline, MA Police Department, the Lawrence, MA Police Department, the Pepperell, MA Police Department and the Massachusetts State Police.  The Middlesex, Essex, and Suffolk District Attorneys’ Offices in Massachusetts as well as the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office also provided invaluable assistance to investigators.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles L. Rombeau.

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