Albany Man Pleads Guilty to Armed Bank Robbery and Firearms Charges for Two Capital Region Armed Bank Robberies

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Christopher J. Cohn, a/k/a “Wolf,” age 26, of Albany, pled guilty today to a four-count superseding indictment charging armed bank robbery, firearms, and conspiracy crimes in connection with two February 2019 armed bank robberies.

The announcement was made by United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith; Susan Ferensic, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); Keith M. Corlett, Superintendent of the New York State Police (NYSP); Chief Eric Hawkins of the Albany Police Department (APD); and Chief David Keevern of the Town of North Greenbush Police Department.

As part of his guilty plea, Cohn admitted to participating in two armed robberies.  On February 6, 2019, Cohn and another man pulled up to an Albany Trustco Bank branch, where Cohn declared he was about to “go do this,” meaning that he planned to rob the bank.  Cohn and his accomplice then entered the bank wearing ski masks.  In the bank, Cohn’s accomplice displayed a gun, and both men threatened to kill the bank’s employees, who surrendered approximately $150,000 to the pair.

On the morning of February 26, 2019, Cohn and the same accomplice entered an M&T Bank branch in North Greenbush, each wearing a ski mask and brandishing a gun.  In the course of the robbery, Cohn fired multiple shots, including one that grazed a bank employee.  Law enforcement tracked Cohn, his accomplice, and their getaway driver to an Albany motel using a GPS device placed in the stolen money by a member of the bank’s staff.  Cohn was apprehended by officers with more than $10,000 in cash and wearing red sneakers matching those captured by the bank’s surveillance cameras during the robbery.  Cohn’s accomplice was arrested in the motel’s lobby, where officers found him with several bags containing approximately $3,800 in cash along with ski masks matching those worn by the robbers. 

Cohn has been in custody since February 26, 2019.

Cohn faces at least 20 years and up to life in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and a term of post-imprisonment supervised release of up to 5 years.  A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the particular statute the defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other factors.  Sentencing is scheduled for July 8, 2020 before Senior United States District Judge Lawrence E. Kahn.

This case was investigated by the FBI, the NYSP, the Town of North Greenbush Police Department, APD, and the Albany County Sheriff’s Office, with the assistance of the Rensselaer County District Attorney’s Office, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joshua R. Rosenthal and Wayne A. Myers.