August 6, 2014

Clifton Bank Robber Sentenced to 55 Months in Prison

NEWARK, NJ—A man who admitted using a note to rob the Valley National Bank in Clifton, New Jersey, was sentenced today to 55 months in prison, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Wayne Winner, 50, of Nutley, New Jersey, pleaded guilty on April 8, 2014, to an information charging him with robbing the bank on Jan. 4, 2013. U.S. District Judge William H. Walls imposed the sentence today in Newark federal court.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

Winner admitted to entering the Valley National Bank in Clifton, New Jersey on Jan. 4, 2013, and handing a bag and a note to a bank teller which read, “No joke, loose bills, no dye, in a hurry.” He also admitted he intended to intimidate the teller, who placed cash in the bag before Winner left the premises.

Winner was sentenced to 40 months in prison for the April bank robbery. Judge Walls imposed the additional 15 months, to run consecutively for a total of 55 months, because Winner violated the terms of his supervised release following a prior federal bank robbery conviction—by robbing the Clifton bank. In addition to the prison term, Judge Walls sentenced Winner to a year of supervised release.

U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Aaron T. Ford in Newark, along with the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office and the Clifton Police Department for their work leading to Winner’s conviction.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Josh Hafetz and Courtney Oliva of the U.S. Attorney’s Office General Crimes Unit in Newark.