Boston Man Sentenced for Cambridge Bank Robbery

BOSTON—A Boston man was sentenced today in federal court for the 2009 robbery of the Cambridge Trust.

DAVID LAPERLE, 54, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns to 151 months in federal prison to be followed by three years of supervised release and restitution. Laperle pleaded guilty to bank robbery last month.

Had the case proceeded to trial, the government’s evidence would have proven that on January 9, 2009, an individual wearing a blue hooded sweatshirt and a black mask entered the Cambridge Trust Company located at 1720 Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge. Once inside the bank the individual leaped over the teller’s station and began ransacking cash drawers. The individual took currency, later determined to be $14,775, and fled the bank in an unknown direction. Within the stolen cash was marked money and a dye pack.

A few days later, the FBI was contacted by the Milford Police Department relative to an individual who had recently paid for a motel room with “red-stained” money. The FBI and the Milford Police set up surveillance on the motel and observed an individual, later identified as Laperle, exit the motel and enter a minivan. The van was stopped and searched during which time investigators found a large amount of “red-stained” currency along with a number of “redstained” clothing and boots. The clothing was later submitted to the FBI’s Crime Laboratory for analysis, and the dye stains were determined to match those used in the bank’s dye packs.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division, made the announcement today. The case was investigated by the FBI’s Violent Crime Task Force and the Milford Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth G. Shine of Ortiz’s Major Crime Unit.