Union County Man Sentenced To 17 Years In Prison For Armed Crime Spree Of Bank Robberies; Carjackings, And Hostage

NEWARK, N.J. – A Union County, New Jersey, man was sentenced today to 204 months in prison for robbing seven banks – and attempting to rob an eighth bank while brandishing a firearm – committing one carjacking and attempting to commit three additional carjackings, and taking a hostage at gunpoint while fleeing, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.

Marlon Peek, 42, of Plainfield, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Katharine S. Hayden in Newark federal court to Counts One through 11, 13, 15, and 17 of an indictment. The counts include: seven counts of bank robbery, one count of carjacking, one count of attempted bank robbery with a dangerous weapon, one count of use and brandishing of a firearm during a crime of violence, three counts of attempted carjacking, and one count of forced accompaniment in attempting to avoid apprehension for the attempted armed bank robbery.

Peek robbed or attempted to rob the following New Jersey banks:

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

From March 2015 to May 2015, Peek and others committed a string of crimes. At each bank, Peek presented a note demanding cash from bank tellers, including, on at least six occasions, statements that he had a gun and would shoot. During the robbery of the TD Bank in Edison, New Jersey, on March 17, 2015, Peek handed a teller a note that read, in part, “I have gun will shoot to kill you have 3 seconds.” In the course of the attempted robbery of the Bank of America, Peek pointed a loaded firearm directly at a bank teller.

Peek admitted that he committed a carjacking in Plainfield, New Jersey, on April 21, 2015, between robbing the PNC Bank and the TD Bank that day, and that he committed three attempted carjackings using a loaded firearm directly after attempting to rob the Bank of America in Linden on May 6, 2015. He also admitted that in attempting to flee from the attempted robbery of the Bank of America, he entered a warehouse, took a hostage, held a loaded gun to the hostage’s head, and forced the hostage to accompany him. Law enforcement officers arrived on the scene and ordered Peek to drop his gun. Peek then surrendered his weapon and was arrested.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Hayden sentenced Peek to five years of supervised release and ordered him to pay restitution of $21,598.

U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Gregory W. Ehrie in Newark; and officers of the Linden Police Department, under the direction of Chief David Hart; the Edison Police Department, under the direction of Chief Thomas Bryan; the Dunellen Police Department, under the direction of Chief Jeffrey E. Nelson; the South Plainfield Police Department, under the direction of Chief James Parker; the Middlesex Police Department, under the direction of Chief Matthew P. Geist; the Plainfield Police Department, under the direction of Director Carl Riley; and the Springfield Police Department, under the direction of Chief John Cook with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea. U.S. Attorney Carpenito also thanked the Union County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Acting Prosecutor Michael A. Monahan, and the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Prosecutor Andrew C. Carey, for their assistance.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Elisa T. Wiygul of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Trenton.

Defense counsel: Alyssa A. Cimino Esq., Fairfield, New Jersey