Berwick Resident Pleads Guilty to Armed Bank Robbery and Firearms Charges

PORTLAND, ME—United States Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty, II announced that Phillip G. Gage, 46, of Berwick, Maine, pled guilty in U.S. District Court in Portland to armed bank robbery and firearms charges. The charges arise from the August 21, 2013 armed bank robbery of Citizen’s Bank in Somersworth, New Hampshire; the October 7, 2013 armed bank robbery of Peoples United Bank in Exeter, New Hampshire; the October 19, 2013 armed bank robbery of Kennebunk Savings in Eliot, Maine; and the October 26, 2013 armed bank robbery of the Ocean Communities Federal Credit Union in Sanford, Maine. Gage also pled guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm and using a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence, that is, armed bank robbery.

According to court records, during the Citizen’s Bank robbery, Gage displayed a demand note that read in part: “I have a bomb and a gun if you say a word you will die” and absconded with $3,132.80. In the People’s United robbery, Gage’s demand note read in part: “There’s a bomb in the trash can, keep it quiet” and absconded with $1,451. During the Kennebunk Savings robbery, Gage pointed a Ruger Red Hawk .44 Magnum revolver at tellers while an associate, Daniel Barry, vaulted over the teller counter and took $7,896 from the teller drawers. During the Ocean Communities Federal Credit Union robbery, Gage pointed a Dan Wesson .22 caliber revolver at tellers and absconded with $8,574.

Gage was convicted of the following felonies: robbery in Florida in 1986, assault in Maine in 1999, possession of a firearm by a felon in Maine in 1999 and attempting to commit a Class B crime in Maine in 2002.

Gage faces up to 25 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or both, on each armed bank robbery charge; a mandatory minimum of 15 years and up to life in prison on the firearm possession charge; and a consecutive mandatory minimum sentence of seven years and up to life in prison for using a firearm during the commission of an armed bank robbery. He will be sentenced after the completion of a presentence investigation report by the United States Probation Office.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Maine State Police; the Eliot, Kittery, Sanford, Berwick, York, Maine Police Departments; and Exeter, Somersworth, Alton, and Pembroke, New Hampshire Police Departments. U.S. Attorney Delahanty praised the cooperation among these law enforcement agencies, noting that “these armed bank robberies were quickly solved because local, state, county, and federal law enforcement agencies across two states worked closely together.”