Westbrook Woman Admits Role in Killingworth Bank Robbery
| U.S. Attorney’s Office October 17, 2012 |
David B. Fein, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that Jennifer Jacques, 31, of Westbrook, pleaded guilty today before United States District Judge Janet C. Hall in New Haven to her role in the August robbery of TD Bank in Killingworth.
According to court documents and statements made in court, on the afternoon of August 6, 2012, Jacques drove two men to the TD Bank on Route 81 in Killingworth. Both men then entered the bank wearing masks and demanded that everyone lie on the floor. One of the men carried what appeared to be a handgun, which he repeatedly pointed at bank employees and customers. While one of the men ordered bank employees to open the vault, the other demanded that customers give him their wallets, cellular telephones, and car keys, and he used zip ties to tie the hands of one bank employee who was lying on the floor. After taking money from the bank, as well as money and other items from bank customers, the two men fled the scene in a vehicle they stole from a bank customer. They abandoned the car on a nearby dirt road where Jacques was waiting. Jacques then drove the two men away from the bank while they changed out of the clothes they had worn during the robbery.
The investigation has revealed that $43,573 was stolen from the bank and its patrons during the robbery.
On September 7, 2012, a federal grand jury in New Haven returned an indictment charging two men with committing this violent bank robbery. In pleading guilty today, Jacques admitted that after the indictment was returned, and without the knowledge of law enforcement officers, she traveled to New York to meet one of men, who was a fugitive from justice, and drove him to Connecticut. On September 19, 2012, the fugitive was apprehended by the FBI and Connecticut State Police in New London.
Judge Hall has scheduled sentencing for January 9, 2013, at which time Jacques faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years and a fine of up to $250,000.
The two men who are alleged to have committed the bank robbery are detained while awaiting trial.
This matter is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Connecticut State Police. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Ray Miller and Sarala V. Nagala.