David A. Frates, Bank Robbery, Massachusetts 2021

A brazen bank robbery in Dartmouth has left authorities reeling. On July 19, 2021, a New Bedford man, David A. Frates, walked into a Bristol County Savings Bank branch and made off with $20,000.

According to the FBI, Frates, 43, entered the bank and approached a teller, demanding $20,000. He threatened to stab a second teller if his demands weren’t met. Frates then produced a long-handled knife and repeatedly struck the knife on the teller’s counter, while repeating he was going to stab the teller. The teller handed Frates $20,000 from the bank’s vault and Frates exited the bank.

An investigation by local law enforcement identified Frates as the robber and arrested him on July 21, 2021. At the time of his arrest, Frates was in possession of over $9,000 in cash.

Frates was subsequently charged by the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office with the robbery and later transferred into federal custody.

Frates was previously convicted in 2014 on federal bank robbery charges for the armed robbery of a St. Anne’s Credit Union branch in New Bedford and was sentenced to 11 years in prison. In May 2020, that sentence was reduced to 81 months in prison based in part on changes in the United States Sentencing Guidelines.

The charge of bank robbery provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

U.S. Attorney Rachael S. Rollins, Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division, and Dartmouth Police Chief Brian P. Levesque made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth G. Shine of Rollins’ Major Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case.

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