Mount Holly Man Sentenced to 87 Months in Prison for Aiding Bank Robberies by Diverting Police with Hoax 911 Calls

CAMDEN—A Mount Holly man was sentenced to 87 months in federal prison today for assisting others in the commission of three bank robberies by phoning in hoax 911 calls in an attempt to lead police away from the targeted bank, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

U.S. District Judge Noel L. Hillman also ordered Michael Barrett, 20, to pay $47,960 in restitution and to serve three years of supervised release upon the completion of his prison term. Barrett has been detained without bail since his arrest on Nov. 24, 2008.

Barrett pleaded guilty before Judge Hillman Oct. 5, 2009, to a three-count Information that charged him with aiding and abetting bank robberies. At his plea hearing, Barrett admitted that he assisted Tarik Mackins, 29, of Trenton, and another individual, who is currently not charged, in the commission of three bank robberies that occurred in Maple Shade, Medford and Cherry Hill.

Barrett admitted that on Sept. 29, 2008, he assisted in the robbery of a Sun National Bank branch in Maple Shade by placing a diversionary 911 call to the local police and making a false report of a crime. Barrett further admitted that on Oct. 7, 2008, he again assisted the other individuals in the robbery of a Columbia Savings Bank branch in Medford by placing a diversionary 911 call. On Oct. 20, 2008, while in the vicinity of a Commerce Bank in Cherry Hill, Barrett placed a diversionary 911 call to the Cherry Hill Police Department to assist in the robbery of that bank.

Mackins pleaded guilty before Judge Hillman on Aug. 13, 2009, to a four-count Information, that charged him with one count of attempted bank robbery, two counts of bank robbery and one count of use a firearm in further of a crime of violence. Judge Hillman continued Mackins’s detention and scheduled sentencing for Feb. 24.

The investigation in the actions of the third individual, whose identity is known to law enforcement authorities, is continuing.

In determining the actual sentence, Judge Hillman consulted the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, which provide appropriate sentencing ranges that take into account the severity and characteristics of the offense, the defendant's criminal history, if any, and other factors. The judge, however, is not bound by those guidelines in determining a sentence.

Parole has been abolished in the federal system. Defendants who are given custodial terms must serve nearly all that time.

Fishman credited Special Agents of the FBI’s Trenton and South Jersey Resident Agencies, under the direction of Acting Special Agents in Charge Kevin B. Cruise in Newark and Janice K. Fedarcyk in Philadelphia, respectively; Investigators with the Burlington County and Camden County Prosecutors’ Offices, under the direction of Prosecutors Robert D. Bernardi and Warren W. Faulk, respectively; and Police Officers with the Police Departments of Maple Shade, Medford and Cherry Hill, with the ongoing investigation.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason M. Richardson of the Criminal Division in Camden.

Defense Attorney: Richard Coughlin, Federal Public Defender