Press Release
Penn Yan Man Sentenced for Attempting to Obtain Money from Bank by Extortion
For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of New York
ROCHESTER, N.Y.--U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Jonathan A. Karcher, 21, of Penn Yan, N.Y., who was convicted of attempting to extort money from the Lyons National Bank in Penn Yan, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge David G. Larimer to 41 months in prison.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Everardo A. Rodriguez, who handled the case, stated that on June 5, 2013, Karcher called the manager of Lyons National Bank and demanded that the manager take $15,000 in cash and leave it by a dumpster behind the Rite Aid store across the street from the bank. During that conversation, the defendant threatened the bank manager by informing her that he had information about the manager’s residence and children. Karcher later drove to the area of Lyons National Bank and parked in the Rite Aid parking lot across the street. The defendant then walked by the dumpster behind the store to determine if the $15,000 had been left there as he had directed the branch manager to do.
Subsequent investigation by the FBI and Penn Yan Police Department identified Karcher as the offender. Investigators tracked the defendant down through the analysis of records tied to the cellular telephone used in the call to the bank.
The sentencing is the culmination of a joint investigation on the part of the Penn Yan Police Department, under the direction of Chief Mark Hulse, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Updated November 19, 2014
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