Buffalo Man Indicted, Charged With Multiple Bank Robberies

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

BUFFALO, N.Y. – U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that a federal grand jury returned a 12 count indictment charging Casey Swain, 37, of Buffalo, NY, with committing bank robberies, entering banks with intent to commit larceny, and bank larcenies.  The charges carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, a fine of $250,000, or both.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Brendan T. Cullinane, who is handling the case, stated that according to the indictment, on four different dates, the defendant robbed First Niagara Bank branches in Buffalo, Lackawanna, Niagara Falls, and Kenmore.  Each of the four robberies involved the defendant passing similar notes which demanded that the money provided contain no bank security devices and instructed the victims not to make any eye contact or sudden movement or things would turn bad.

The defendant was arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge H. Kenneth Schroeder, Jr., and is being detained pending further proceedings.

The indictment is the culmination of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction on the part of Adam S. Cohen, the Buffalo Police Department, under the direction of Commissioner Daniel Derenda, the Lackawanna Police Department, under the direction of Chief James Michel, the Niagara Falls Police Department, under the direction of Chief Bryan DalPorto, and the Kenmore Police Department, under the direction of Chief Peter Breitnauer.

The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.