Maurice Richardson, Bank Robbery, New Jersey 2012

TRENTON, N.J. – In a brazen display of lawlessness, Maurice Richardson, 43, of Irvington, N.J., has been sentenced to 207 months in prison for his role in a string of 10 bank robberies across New Jersey.

Richardson, who was arrested on December 1, 2010, by officers of the Old Bridge Police Department, pleaded guilty to charges of robbing a Capital One Bank branch and assaulting people during the course of the robbery, as well as nine additional bank robberies.

The crimes, which took place between May 31, 2008, and September 1, 2010, included robberies at Commerce Bank locations in Morris Township, Rahway, and Nutley, as well as Capital One Bank branches in Marlboro, Hasbrouck Heights, and Paramus. Richardson also robbed TD Bank in Howell and Capital One Bank in Marlboro on December 1, 2010.

According to documents filed in the case, Richardson entered the banks and gave notes to the tellers, demanding money in large bills and threatening to shoot them if they did not comply. Witnesses at some of the robberies observed Richardson leaving the crime scenes in a burgundy SUV.

On December 1, 2010, a Marlboro police officer observed a burgundy Chevrolet Suburban with tinted windows entering Route 9 North from a street adjacent to the Capital One Bank’s parking lot. After a one-mile pursuit, the vehicle struck a concrete wall in Sayreville, N.J., and Richardson was apprehended when he got out of the SUV and attempted to flee. A 9 mm bullet was found in the vehicle, and a 9mm handgun was found after a search of the area near where Richardson crashed.

In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge Peter G. Sheridan sentenced Richardson to three years of supervised release and ordered him to pay restitution of $50,646.

U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge David Velazquez in Newark, with the investigation leading to Richardson’s sentence. He also thanked the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, the Old Bridge Police Department, Sayreville Police Department, Marlboro Police Department, Howell Police Department, Morris Township Police Department, Rahway Police Department, Nutley Police Department, Hasbrouck Heights Police Department, and Paramus Police Department for their roles in the investigation.

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