Union County, New Jersey, Man Sentenced To 115 Months In Prison For Robbing Four Banks

NEWARK, N.J. – An Elizabeth, New Jersey, man was sentenced today to 115 months in prison for robbing four banks in January 2017, including a TD Bank in Bergen County, New Jersey, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.

Israel Cosme, 36, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Esther Salas to an information charging him with four counts of bank robbery. Judge Salas imposed the sentence today in Newark federal court. Cosme was originally arrested Jan. 24, 2017 in connection with two of the bank robberies committed in Maryland.

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

Cosme admitted that on Jan. 15, 2017, he robbed a TD Bank in Little Ferry, New Jersey. During the robbery, Cosme verbally demanded money and told a teller that he would shoot her if she didn’t comply.

Cosme also admitted robbing a TD Bank in New York on Jan. 12, 2017; a TD Bank in Essex, Maryland, on Jan. 22, 2017; and a TD Bank in Baltimore, Maryland, on Jan. 23, 2017. During all three of these robberies, Cosme handed tellers a note demanding money and stating that he had a gun.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Salas sentenced Cosme to three years of supervised release.

U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Bradley W. Cohen in Newark, with the investigation. He also thanked the Little Ferry Police Department, under the direction of Chief Ralph Verdi, for its assistance.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason S. Gould of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Newark.

Defense counsel: K. Anthony Thomas Esq., Assistant Federal Public Defender, Newark