Medford Man Sentenced to More Than Seven Years in Prison for Robbery of Bank of America Branch
| U.S. Attorney’s Office November 30, 2011 |
NEWARK, NJ—Walter Haskell was sentenced today to 87 months in prison for the robbery of a Bank of America branch in South Orange, N.J., U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Haskell, 52, of Medford, N.J., previously pleaded guilty to an Information charging him with one count of bank robbery. He was sentenced today by U.S. District Court Judge William H. Walls in Newark federal court.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
On Aug. 5, 2008, at approximately 12:30 p.m., Haskell walked up to a female teller at the Bank of America branch in South Orange, N.J., and handed her a note that read: “This is A holdup, The money or ill start shoting” (sic). The teller noticed Haskell lifting his shirt as if to imply that he had a gun. The teller said she saw the handle of a gun in Haskell’s waistband. The teller handed the money over to Haskell and he calmly walked out of the front door of the bank. Haskell was arrested by the FBI in Minnesota on Oct. 24, 2008, after the FBI was able to pull Haskell’s fingerprint from the demand note he gave to the bank teller.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Walls sentenced Haskell to three years supervised release and ordered him to pay restitution of $5,440 to Bank of America.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael B. Ward in Newark, and the South Orange Police Department, under the direction of Chief of Police James M. Chelel, with the investigation that resulted in today’s sentencing.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric T. Kanefsky of the U.S. Attorney’s Special Prosecutions Division in Newark.
Defense counsel: Stephen Dratch Esq. and Julian Wilsey Esq., Livingston, N.J.