New York Man Sentenced to 41 Months for Bank Robbery Conspiracy

A Fulton County man has been sentenced to 41 months in prison for his part in a brazen bank robbery conspiracy, federal authorities announced today.

Luke Kenna, 44, of Gloversville, New York, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Brenda K. Sannes for conspiring to commit bank robbery and for illegally possessing a firearm after having been convicted of a prior misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.

Kenna was joined in the conspiracy by Michael Brown, Jr., 43, of Exton, Pennsylvania, who was sentenced to 37 months in prison for his part in the scheme.

According to court documents, Kenna and Brown, along with a third conspirator, Brian Tierney, planned to commit an armed bank robbery at a bank branch in Johnstown, New York, between November 14 and November 27, 2022.

Kenna allegedly conducted surveillance of the bank, purchased items, including weapons, to commit the robbery, and used a rifle he possessed in November 2022, after previously being convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.

Brown, on the other hand, drove to New York to conduct surveillance of the bank with Kenna, and Tierney ordered handgun parts for use in the robbery and sent photographs of a handgun, and a radio scanning and jamming device, to Kenna.

The FBI’s Albany Field Office, along with the Joint Terrorism Task Force and federal, state, and local investigators, investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander Wentworth-Ping is prosecuting.

As part of their respective guilty pleas, Brown and Kenna each admitted to their roles in the conspiracy, and were ordered to serve three-year terms of supervised release after completing their prison sentences.

Kenna was also ordered to forfeit the rifle he possessed in November 2022.

The third conspirator, Brian Tierney, of Lynchburg, Virginia, pled guilty on April 16, 2024, and is scheduled to be sentenced on August 16, 2024, by Chief Judge Sannes.

The sentences handed down today bring an end to a complex and dangerous conspiracy that threatened the safety and security of innocent civilians in Johnstown, New York.