Bank Robber Sentenced To 63 Months Of Imprisonment

SCRANTON – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced today that Douglas Sickler, age 38, of Hanover Township, Pennsylvania, was sentenced on April 25, 2019, by United States District Judge Robert D. Mariani to 63 months of imprisonment and three years of supervised release, for an armed bank robbery.

According to United States Attorney David J. Freed, Sickler and his co-defendant, Shawn Cavanaugh, robbed the PNC Bank in Avoca, Pennsylvania on June 21, 2017, while brandishing pellet guns.  Sickler and Cavanaugh were arrested on June 22, 2017, and have remained in custody since.  Sickler pleaded guilty to the offense on September 14, 2017.  In addition to the sentence of imprisonment, Judge Mariani ordered that Sickler pay $909 to the victim of his crime.

Sickler’s co-defendant, Shawn Cavanaugh, also pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing.

The matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Kingston Police Department.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Phillip J. Caraballo and Robert J. O’Hara.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.

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