New Jersey Man Pleads Guilty to Bank Robbery

CHARLESTON, SC—United States Attorney Bill Nettles stated today that Craig Ozarowski, age 55, of Belmar, New Jersey, has entered a guilty plea in federal court in Charleston to two counts of bank robbery, a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113. Ozarowksi pled guilty to robbing one bank in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, as well as one bank in St. Augustine, Florida. United States District Judge Richard M. Gergel of Charleston accepted the guilty plea and will impose sentence after he has reviewed the presentence report which will be prepared by the U.S. Probation Office.

Evidence presented at the change of plea hearing established that on February 13, 2013, Ozarowski entered the Suntrust Bank at 404 Johnnie Dodds Blvd. in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, and handed a teller a note demanding money. Ozarowski showed a weapon in his jacket to bank employees during the robbery. After witnesses told police that they observed Ozarowski run to a hotel next door to the bank, officers with the Mount Pleasant Police Department apprehended Ozarowski in the hotel. Evidence found in Ozarowski’s hotel room tied him to a bank robbery in St. Augustine, Florida, on February 8, 2013. Ozarowksi was charged with bank robbery in United States District Court in the Middle District of Florida and agreed to plead guilty in South Carolina. Ozarowski also faces charges for violating federal supervised release. Ozarowski was released from federal prison in December 2012 after serving over thirty years in federal prison.

Mr. Nettles stated the maximum penalty for two counts of bank robbery is imprisonment for 20 years and/or a fine of $250,000.

The case was investigated by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigations and the Mount Pleasant Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Nick Bianchi of the Charleston is prosecuting the case.