Franklin County Man Pleads Guilty to Bank Robberies

The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont stated that Chad Lussier, 23, pleaded guilty to two counts of bank robbery today in United States District Court for the District of Vermont. As part of the plea agreement, Lussier admitted that he had also performed three other bank robberies charged in the superseding indictment, and agreed to pay restitution to the banks for the money stolen in all five robberies. United States District Court Judge Christina Reiss ordered Lussier, who is from Franklin County, detained pending sentencing. Sentencing in the case is scheduled for July 12, 2011 in Rutland.

On February 18, 2010, a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Lussier with robbing the TD Bank in Enosburg Falls on January 29, 2010. A superseding indictment added four other bank robbery charges, alleging that Lussier robbed the TD Bank in Enosburg Falls on November 13, 2006; the Chittenden Bank in Swanton on October, 27, 2009; the Chittenden Bank in St. Albans on October 5, 2009; and the TD Bank in Richford on September 25, 2009. According to court documents, Lussier wielded a knife in all but the last robbery.

Lussier faces a sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine on each count. The actual sentence will be determined in accordance with the federal Sentencing Guidelines. Under the sentencing guidelines, the sentencing judge can take into account Lussier’s admissions to having conducted the other three bank robberies in addition to the two to which he entered pleas of guilty.

The United States Attorney commended the Vermont State Police, the St. Albans Police Department, the Swanton Police Department, the U.S. Border Patrol, the U.S. Marshals Service, and the FBI for their excellent work on this investigation. The defendant is represented by Mark Kaplan from the Burlington law firm Jarvis and Kaplan.