Poughkeepsie Man Sentenced to 144 Months for Robbing Hinsdale Credit Union

            CONCORD – United States Attorney Scott W. Murray announced that Joseph M. Crocco, 42, of Poughkeepsie, New York, was sentenced to 144 months in prison and ordered to pay $2709 in restitution for robbing a credit union.         

            Evidence presented at trial showed that on December 21, 2017, the defendant entered the Service Credit Union branch located in the Walmart on Brattleboro Road in Hinsdale, New Hampshire.  He approached a teller and gave her two notes.  He then told her that he had a bomb strapped to his body and she had 60 seconds to comply with his demands.  The teller gave him approximately $2,700 and he fled the store.  Investigation by the New Hampshire State Police and the Hinsdale Police Department ultimately traced the defendant to Poughkeepsie where detectives from the City of Poughkeepsie Police Department identified the defendant in images taken from the credit union’s security cameras.           

            Crocco was found guilty by a jury on September 25, 2018.

            “Robberies of banks and credit unions are violent crimes that can jeopardize the safety of employees, customers, and the public,” said U.S. Attorney Murray.  “In order to protect the safety of our citizens, we work closely with our law enforcement partners to prosecute and incarcerate those who commit violent crimes in the Granite State.”

            "Imagine being confronted at your place of work by a stranger, who threatened that you have one minute to decide whether to live or possibly die. That was the ultimatum Joseph Crocco forced upon a credit union teller inside a popular Hinsdale superstore, when he claimed he was armed with a bomb he would detonate if she did not cooperate," said Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Division. "The FBI is proud to work with our law enforcement partners, who were instrumental in bringing Crocco to justice, and who hopefully restored some peace of mind to the bank's employees."

            This matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Hinsdale Police Department, the New Hampshire State Police, the Brattleboro, Vermont Police Department, and the City of Poughkeepsie, New York Police Department.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Anna Dronzek and Charles Rombeau.

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