CONCORD, NH—Thomas Gould, 49, of
Chelsea, Massachusetts, was sentenced today in United States District Court for
the District of New Hampshire to 37 months in federal prison and three years of
supervised release after pleading guilty to robbing the Citizens Bank in
Portsmouth, New Hampshire on July 18, 2011, announced United States Attorney
John P. Kacavas.
At a change of plea hearing held on
February 13, 2012, Gould did not dispute that he entered the Citizens Bank in
Portsmouth, approached a teller, and placed a small brown lunch bag on the
counter. Gould told the teller that the bag contained a bomb. Gould demanded
all of the teller’s 100- and 20-dollar bills. After the teller provided a sum
of money, Gould left the bank on foot to a car parked in a parking lot across
the street from the bank. A surveillance camera captured an image of the
vehicle. The New Hampshire State Police Explosives Unit responded to the scene
and determined that the bag contained a ticking alarm clock but did not contain
a bomb.
Gould was arrested by federal and state
authorities the following day at a hotel in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. None of
the robbery proceeds were recovered.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the
Portsmouth Police Department, and the New Hampshire State Police participated
in the investigation of this case and was prosecuted by First Assistant United
States Attorney Donald Feith.
Posts
