Wednesday, January 26, 2011

New Jersey Man Sentenced to 70 Months in Prison for Robbing Two Hackensack Banks

NEWARK, NJ—A Hackensack, N.J., man was sentenced today to 70 months in prison for robbing two Hackensack banks, United States Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced. Kemmet Meeks, 48, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge William J. Martini to a superseding Information charging him with two counts of bank robbery. Judge Martini also imposed the sentence today in Newark federal court.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

Meeks admitted robbing a Wachovia Bank on
Johnson Avenue
in Hackensack on November 3, 2009, of nearly $28,000, and a TD Bank on
Essex Street
in Hackensack on January 30, 2010, of approximately $13,000.

During the robberies, Meeks and his co-defendant, Eugene Jones, approached the teller counter and demanded money while Jones displayed a gun. Both men wore hooded sweatshirts and face masks. Meeks admitted that he prevented those inside the bank from leaving during the TD Bank robbery.

Meeks was apprehended on February 6, 2010, after authorities, who were conducting surveillance of a van that had been stolen earlier that morning, observed Meeks drop off his codefendant at the stolen van. During a short vehicle pursuit, officers observed Meeks throw a black ski mask and a stolen 9 mm handgun from the vehicle.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Martini sentenced Meeks to three years of supervised release and ordered him to pay restitution in the amount of $27,916.

The case against Jones is pending. The charges and allegations contained in the Indictment charging Jones are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Fishman credited special agents with the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael B. Ward in Newark, and the Hackensack Police Department with the investigation leading to today’s sentence.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Shana W. Chen and Fabiana Pierre-Louis of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Newark.

11-038 ###
Defense counsel: Kenneth W. Kayser, Esq., Livingston, N.J.

No comments: