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Press Release

Passaic County Man Gets 54 Months In Prison For Bank Robbery

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of New Jersey

NEWARK, N.J. – A Little Falls, New Jersey, man was sentenced today to 54 months in prison for robbing a TD Bank in Hawthorne, New Jersey, in February 2016, Acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick announced.

Robert Somers, 45, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton to an information charging him with one count of bank robbery. Judge Wigenton imposed the sentence today in Newark federal court.

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

On Feb.17, 2016, Somers robbed the TD Bank in Hawthorne by handing a teller a note that read: “this is a hold up,” and demanding cash. The teller handed Somers cash. Somers demanded more money, and a second teller handed him additional cash. Somers then fled the bank in a car driven by another individual.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Wigenton sentenced Somers to three years of supervised release.

Acting U.S. Attorney Fitzpatrick credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Timothy Gallagher in Newark; the Hawthorne Police Department, under the direction of Chief Richard McAuliffe; the Pennsylvania State Police, under the direction of Col. Tyree C. Blocker; and the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes, with the investigation.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jihee G. Suh and Karen D. Stringer of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Newark.

Updated September 5, 2017

Press Release Number: 17-324