Norwood Man Sentenced for Peabody Bank Robbery

BOSTON, MA—A Norwood man was sentenced today in federal court for robbing the Sovereign Bank in Peabody.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division, announced today that Michael J. Peters, 55, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge George A. O’Toole to 108 months’ imprisonment to be followed by five years of supervised release and restitution in the amount of $26,433 for armed bank robbery.

At the plea hearing in June, the prosecutor told the court that had the case proceeded to trial, the government’s evidence would have proven that in September 2009, two masked and armed individuals entered the Sovereign Bank in Peabody. One of the robbers, later identified as Michael J. Febonio, climbed over a teller’s counter and began ransacking cash drawers while displaying a firearm. While Febonio emptied the cash drawers, the other robber, Peters, pointed his weapon at the other employees and ordered them to the ground. The robbers stuffed the currency into a black nylon bag and fled the scene. A post robbery audit revealed that $26,433 was taken during the robbery.

A bank employee observed the two individuals entering a black sedan and fleeing the area. Video surveillance at the bank captured the robbers during the robbery and as they fled. The vehicle was eventually recovered and determined to have been recently purchased by codefendant Brian Febonio the day before the robbery. Brian Febonio was also identified by witnesses from the video surveillance, and was arrested a few days later in a New Hampshire motel where agents seized information linking Peters to Brian Febonio. Peters was located and arrested shortly thereafter.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Violent Crimes Task Force, the New Hampshire State Police, and the Peabody Police. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth G. Shine of Ortiz’s Major Crime Unit.