Philadelphia Man Admits To Armed Robbery Of New Jersey Bank

CAMDEN, N.J. – A Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, man today admitted robbing a bank in Carneys Point, New Jersey, in July 2018 while brandishing a firearm, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.

Antwaine Thomas, 40, of Philadelphia, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Joseph H. Rodriguez in Camden federal court to an indictment charging him with armed bank robbery and brandishing a firearm during a bank robbery.

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

Thomas admitted that on July 30, 2018, he and a co-conspirator walked into the Fulton Bank in Carneys Point, and that he pointed a loaded handgun at four bank employees while demanding cash.  Thomas and the co-conspirator took $66,000 from the bank and fled.  Thomas was arrested several hours later, and he was captured on surveillance video in a nearby residential area, ditching the cash, gun, and his clothing.

The armed bank robbery charge carries a maximum potential penalty of 25 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense.  The brandishing a firearm charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years which must be served consecutively to any other sentence imposed.  Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 12, 2019.

U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Gregory W. Ehrie in Newark; the Salem County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Salem County Prosecutor John T. Lenahan; officers of the Carneys Point Police Department, under the direction of Chief of Police Gerald A. Krivda; and officers of the Penns Grove Police Department, under the direction of Chief John T. Stranahan, Sr., with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristen M. Harberg of the United States Attorney’s Office in Camden.

Defense Counsel: Robert C. Wolf, Esq., Westmont, New Jersey