Poultney Bank Robber Imprisoned 41 Months

The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont stated that yesterday Joshua Swinger, 23, of Delaware, was sentenced in United States District Court in Rutland to imprisonment for 41 months on his plea of guilty to an indictment charging him with robbing the Citizens Bank in Poultney on February 21, 2008. Senior United States District Judge J. Garvan Murtha also ordered Swinger to serve two years’ supervised release after his term of imprisonment and to pay restitution.

According to court records, on February 21, 2008, at approximately 10:17 a.m., Swinger entered the Citizens Bank, located at 177 Main Street, Poultney, wearing two black, hooded sweatshirts, a baseball hat and sunglasses, and carrying a backpack and a BB gun in a concealed manner. Swinger then handed a teller a note, which read, "Be calm I have a gun give me the money in all droors [sic]." During the encounter defendant threatened the teller further, "Don't push nothing and you won't get hurt." The teller gave defendant $2,298 and defendant exited the bank.

At approximately 2:09 p.m. that day, officers of the Mahwah, New Jersey Police Department stopped a vehicle with a Delaware license plate on New Jersey Route 287 for speeding (72 mph in a 55 mph zone) and for an unsafe lane change. Officers identified the driver via his driver's license as Swinger. Found in the vehicle was a backpack containing approximately $2,240 in cash and a BB gun. During questioning Swinger admitted that he had robbed a bank in Vermont at approximately 10:00 a.m. that morning. Mahwah officers arrested Swinger for state law violations. Swinger was transferred to the District of Vermont after a federal grand jury returned the indictment charging him for the bank robbery.

United States Attorney Tristram J. Coffin commended the investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Vermont State Police, and the Mahwah, New Jersey Police Department. Swinger was represented by Burlington attorneys Jason Sawyer and David Watts. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Nolan.