TRENTON, N.J. – A Manhattan man today admitted robbing banks
in Jackson Township, Fort Lee, and Hasbrouck Heights, as well as attempting to
burglarize a fourth bank in Englewood between December 2013 and February 2017,
U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.
Eddy Cruz, 42, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge
Peter G. Sheridan in Trenton federal court to an information charging him with
three counts of bank robbery and one count of attempted bank burglary.
According to documents filed in this case and statements
made in court:
On Dec. 24, 2013, Cruz entered a PNC Bank in Jackson
Township and handed a bank teller a note demanding money. After the teller
handed him some cash, Cruz fled the scene. Cruz also robbed a TD Bank in Fort
Lee on Feb. 13, 2017 and a TD Bank in Hasbrouck Heights on Feb. 18, 2017.
During both robberies, Cruz wore a mask to disguise his identity and handed the
tellers notes demanding cash.
On Feb. 24, 2017, law enforcement officers tracked Cruz’s
car, which had been spotted at one of the earlier bank robberies, to a location
in Manhattan. That same day, Cruz drove to yet another TD Bank in Englewood
where he was apprehended moments before he robbed the bank in a similar
disguise to what he wore during the previous two bank robberies.
The bank robbery and attempted bank burglary counts each
carry a maximum potential penalty of up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000
fine, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense. Sentencing is scheduled
for Nov. 27, 2018.
U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents with the
FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Gregory Ehrie in Newark and
Special Agent in Charge John Brosnan in New York; the Bergen County
Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Acting Prosecutor Dennis Calo; the
Fort Lee Police Department, under the direction of Chief Keith M. Bendul; the
Hasbrouck Heights Police Department, under the direction of Chief Michael J.
Colaneri; the Roxbury Police Department, under the direction of Chief Marc
Palanchi; the Paramus Police Department, under the direction of Chief Kenneth
Ehrenberg; and the Jackson Township Police Department, under the direction of
Chief Matthew Kunz, with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea. He
also thanked the Greenburgh, New York, Mount Pleasant, New York, and Yonkers,
New York, police departments, as well as the New York Police Department for
their assistance.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney
Joshua L. Haber of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Newark
18-272
Defense counsel: Linda Foster Esq., Assistant Federal Public
Defender, Newark
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