Rochester Man Sentenced For Bank Robbery

CONTACT:      Barbara Burns
PHONE:            (716) 843-5817
FAX:                  (716) 551-3051

ROCHESTER, N.Y.--U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Raul Abidel Martinez, 34, of Rochester, NY, who was convicted of bank robbery, was sentenced to 60 months in prison by Chief U.S. District Court Judge Frank P. Geraci.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig R. Gestring, who handled the case, stated that on August 23, 2011, Martinez walked into the M&T Bank on Lyell Avenue in Rochester and handed the teller a note demanding money. Among other things, the defendant said in his note that he had an AK-47. The teller gave Martinez some money and a dye pack which activated as soon as the defendant left the bank causing him to flee down Lyell Ave covered in red dye. The defendant was apprehended shortly thereafter by Rochester Police officers who responded to the silent alarm activation at the bank. Rochester Police enlisted the investigative assistance of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. At the time he robbed the M&T Bank, the defendant was on federal supervised release following a 2007 conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

The sentencing is the culmination of an investigation on the part of Officers of the Rochester Police Department, under the direction of Chief Michael Ciminelli and Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.