Bergen County Man Admits Robbery of New Jersey Bank

CAMDEN, N.J. – A Bergen County, New Jersey, man admitted robbing a bank in Mountain Lakes, New Jersey, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.

Tony Winst, 46, of Cresskill, New Jersey, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Edward S. Kiel in Camden federal court to an information charging him with bank robbery.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

On Nov. 17, 2023, Winst entered a bank in Mountain Lakes, New Jersey, and handed a note to a teller stating: “this is a robbery.” He claimed to have a weapon. The teller gave Winst money and he fled from the bank.

The count of bank robbery carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, and a maximum fine of $250,000. Sentencing is scheduled for April 2, 2025.

U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Nelson I. Delgado in Newark; the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Prosecutor Robert J. Carroll, with the investigation leading to the guilty plea. He also thanked the Mountain Lakes Police Department, under the direction of Chief of Police Shawn Bennett.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean Nadel of the General Crimes Unit in Newark.