Palmyra, New Jersey Man Pleads Guilty to Robbing Local Bank Branch Twice
| U.S. Attorney’s Office January 06, 2011 |
CAMDEN, NJ—A Palmyra, N.J., man who used a fake gun to commit bank robberies pled guilty today to robbing the same Beneficial Savings Bank in Riverton, N.J., on May 18, 2010, and again on July 10, 2010, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Kahliefa Bussie, 24, pled guilty to an Information charging him with two counts of bank robbery before United States District Judge Joseph E. Irenas in Camden federal court.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
Bussie walked into the bank on May 18, 2010, wearing a dark-colored bandana over his face, sunglasses, and a dark-colored hooded sweatshirt covering his head. He approached a bank teller and demanded money from the teller drawers, pointing a fake, chrome-colored gun at the teller. The teller complied and Bussie fled the bank with nearly $5,700. Before leaving, Bussie told the tellers that a black box he was holding was a device that would alert him if the bank’s alarm was activated, so they should not “push the button.”
On July 10, 2010, Bussie again pointed a fake gun at the tellers, demanding money and claiming he has a transmitter and would shoot everyone if the alarm was tripped. The tellers complied and Bussie fled the bank with $17,800.
A bank employee working in the rear of the bank called 911 while the robbery was in progress. Officers from the Riverton Police Department apprehended Bussie as he was attempting to climb a fence after running through a pharmacy parking lot. Law enforcement authorities recovered the stolen money.
Kahliefa Bussie faces a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 on each count to which he pled guilty, as well as restitution as ordered by the Court.
Sentencing is scheduled for April 20, 2011.
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 Riverton Borough Police Department for their work leading to today’s guilty plea.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew T. Smith of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Camden.