Luzerne County Man Indicted for Bank Robbery

SCRANTON - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced today that a federal grand jury in Scranton has indicted a Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, man for bank robbery.

According to United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam, the indictment alleges that on July 14, 2023, Damen Drakeford, age 29, committed a robbery of the M&T Bank located at 900 North Ninth Street in Stroud Township, Monroe County.

The charges against the defendant resulted from an investigation conducted by the Stroud Area Regional Police Department, the Pennsylvania State Police, and the FBI Safe Streets Task Force.  Assistant United States Attorney Robert J. O’Hara is prosecuting the case.

This case is being prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime.  Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them.  As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

Indictments and Criminal Informations are only allegations. All persons charged are presumed to be innocent unless and until found guilty in court.

 A sentence following a finding of guilt is imposed by the Judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.

 Under federal law, Drakeford faces a maximum sentence of up to twenty years in prison, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine.  Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the Judge is also required to consider and weigh a number of factors, including the nature, circumstances and seriousness of the offense; the history and characteristics of the defendant; and the need to punish the defendant, protect the public and provide for the defendant's educational, vocational and medical needs. For these reasons, the statutory maximum penalty for the offense is not an accurate indicator of the potential sentence for a specific defendant.

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