‘U-30 Bandit’ Pleads Guilty

BOSTON, MA—A Norwood man dubbed the ‘U-30 Bandit’ by the FBI was convicted today in federal court of eight counts of armed bank robbery.

DIMITRI LONG, 34, pled guilty before U.S. District Judge Douglas P. Woodlock to eight counts of armed bank robbery. Long committed a number of violent bank robberies in spring and summer months of 2009 in the communities of Needham, Wellesley, Newton, Dedham, and Walpole.

Long pled guilty for robberies committed at Bank of America in Wellesley on March 26, 2009, and April 24, 2009; TD Bank in Needham on April 3, 2009; Village Bank in Newton on May 13, 2009; Ukranian Credit Union in Dedham on May 29, 2009; Bank of America in Dedham on June 5, 2009; Sharon Credit Union on June 16, 2009; and Sovereign Bank in Needham on July 1, 2009.

In each of the robberies, Long would enter the bank, brandish a black semi-automatic handgun, and commit the robbery. In three of the eight robberies, Long placed a device which resembled a bomb on the counter. These devices were later determined to be hoax devices. Throughout each robbery, bank employees noted that the robber was communicating with someone outside the bank via a portable walkie-talkie.

Long, who had been a suspect in the above robberies, was captured by the FBI as he exited the Sovereign Bank carrying money and a loaded weapon. The getaway driver, Michael Coty, Long’s half brother, was captured by the FBI immediately thereafter as he fled the scene. Coty was prosecuted for his involvement in three of the eight robberies and was sentenced on October 7, 2010, by Judge Woodlock to 60 months’ imprisonment to be followed by five years of supervised release.

Judge Woodlock scheduled sentencing for February 28, 2011. Long faces up to 25 years’ imprisonment on each count of bank robbery to be followed by five years of supervised release, an $800.00 special assessment, and restitution in the amount of $59,334.00.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division, made the announcement today. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Violent Crime Task Force, the Norfolk County Police Anti-Crime Unit, and the Wellesley, Needham, Dedham, Newton, and Walpole Police Departments. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth G. Shine of Ortiz’s Major Crime Unit.