March 10, 2015

Career Offender Admits Robbing Meriden Bank

Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that MICHAEL MASLAR, 58, of Meriden, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford to one count of bank robbery.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on September 22, 2014, MASLAR, wearing a pillowcase with holes cut into it over his head, entered the TD Bank on East Main Street in Meriden, approached the teller counter and demanded that bank employees give him cash in $50 and $100 denominations.

MASLAR also stated that he had a gun. Bank employees complied with MASLAR’s demands and gave him $5,658. MASLAR took the money, placed it inside a plastic bag and exited the bank. He was arrested shortly thereafter by Meriden Police.

MASLAR has been detained since his arrest on September 22. Judge Shea scheduled sentencing for June 2, 2015, at which time MASLAR faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years.

MASLAR’s criminal history includes two prior federal convictions for bank robbery, as well as convictions for involuntary manslaughter and assault. In March 2003, MASLAR was sentenced in Hartford federal court to 165 months of imprisonment for robbing a bank in Meriden on September 11, 2001. He was released from prison in January 2014.

This matter is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Meriden Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacabed Rodriguez-Coss.