NEWARK, N.J. - A Bound Brook, New Jersey, man today admitted robbing five banks and attempting to rob another between June 2014 and June 2015, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Luis Castaneda, 40, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Madeline Cox Arleo in Newark federal court to an information charging him with six counts of bank robbery and one count of brandishing a firearm in furtherance of one of the robberies.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
Castaneda admitted that between June 6, 2014 and June 12, 2015, he robbed or attempted to rob six banks, all in New Jersey:
Date
Financial Institution
Location
June 6, 2014
County Educators Federal Credit Union
Somerville
Dec. 3, 2014
Manville Area Federal Credit Union
Manville
March 19, 2015
Public Service Credit Union
Middlesex
May 9, 2015
Peapack-Gladstone Bank (Attempt)
Piscataway
May 9, 2015
Unity Bank
Whitehouse Station
June 12, 2015
Somerset Savings Bank
Somerset
Castaneda admitted that during each of the above robberies, he and others threatened to use force while demanding money from the bank employees. He also admitted that during the Somerset Savings Bank robbery on June 12, 2015, he brandished a firearm in order to intimidate one or more of the bank employees.
The bank robbery charges to which Castaneda pleaded guilty each carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The charge of brandishing a firearm carries a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years to be served consecutively to any other sentence imposed. Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 15, 2016.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI Franklin Township Resident Agency, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Timothy Gallagher in Newark, with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea. He also thanked the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office, the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office, and the Hunterdon County Prosecutor’s Office, as well as the Somerville, Manville, Piscataway, Readington Township, Middlesex Borough, and Bound Brook police departments for their contributions to the case.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Meredith Williams of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Newark.
Defense counsel: John Azzarello Esq.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
