ROCKLAND MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO THE ROBBERIES AND
ATTEMPTED ROBBERIES OF 7 BANKS AND CHECK CASHING STORES
IN THE BRONX, ROCKLAND, SULLIVAN AND NASSAU COUNTIES

MICHAEL J. GARCIA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that RICHARD REGIS, a/k/a “Knox,” a/k/a “Knowledge,” pled guilty today in White Plains
federal court to robbery and other charges relating to his participation in the robbery and attempted robbery of banks, a credit union, and check cashing stores located in the Bronx, Rockland, Sullivan, and Nassau counties.

According to a Complaint, court records and his guilty plea to the felony Information charging him, REGIS and other individuals conspired to rob banks and a credit union in Sullivan, Rockland and Nassau Counties from February 2005 through June 2005.

On April 20, 2005, REGIS and his conspirators, armed with a .40 caliber semi-automatic pistol and pellet guns, attempted to rob the First National Bank of Jeffersonville in Loch Sheldrake,
New York, it was charged. REGIS and his co-conspirators planned to break into a bank employee’s home, hold her hostage, and then learn information about the bank’s procedures in order to rob the bank the next morning. Their bank robbery was foiled when an alert neighbor spotted REGIS and his co-conspirators breaking into the bank employee’s home and called the police, according to the Complaint.

On May 18, 2005, REGIS and his co-conspirators, wearing disguises and armed with pellet guns, robbed the Palisades Federal Credit Union in Pearl River, New York, of approximately $219,000, according to the charges. REGIS admitted during his guilty plea that in committing the robbery, he tied up and held credit union employees and customers hostage at gun point.

On June 16, 2005, REGIS and his co-conspirators, armed with a revolver and a pellet gun, attempted to rob the Bank of New York in New Hyde Park, New York, according to the charges. REGIS and one of his co-conspirators entered the bank that morning and waited for bank employees to arrive. When one of the bank employees arrived, they threatened her and took her hostage. The bank employee informed REGIS and his co-conspirator that the other key that would be needed to open the bank’s vault was with a co-worker outside the bank. The bank employee then went to the door while the two men watched from the rear of the bank. The bank employee opened the door and advised co-workers waiting outside to run because the bank was being robbed, the Complaint charged. REGIS and his co-conspirator then fled the bank and attempted to escape the pursuing police by running through a residential neighborhood in Nassau County. The two robbers were apprehended by police officers and, according to a news account, an off-duty New York City firefighter who tackled one of the men in his backyard, and
were taken into custody.

According to court records and his guilty plea to the felony Information charging him, REGIS and other individuals robbed check cashing stores in the Bronx and Rockland County from December 2004 through March 2005. RICHARD REGIS robbed the four stores – 2 in the Bronx and 2 in Rockland County – of approximately $100,000. In two of these robberies, REGIS and his co-conspirators kidnaped employees, and on one occasion, an employee’s family member, and held them hostage at gun point in order to facilitate the commission of the robberies.

As a result of his guilty plea, REGIS, 33, of Nyack, New York, faces a mandatory minimum of five years imprisonment and a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. As a result of his guilty
plea, which was entered before United States Magistrate Judge LISA MARGARET SMITH, he also faces a maximum fine of up to $627,800 and must make restitution to the banks, credit union, and check cashing stores in the amount of $313,900.

REGIS, who is being detained without bail, is scheduled to be sentenced on October 3, 2006, by United States District Judge COLLEEN MCMAHON.

Mr. GARCIA praised the efforts and assistance of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Orangetown Police Department, the New York State Police, the Sullivan County District Attorney’s
Office, the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office, the Nassau County Police Department, and the New York City Police Department.

Mr. GARCIA said the investigation is continuing.

Assistant United States Attorney JOHN P. COLLINS, JR. is in charge of the prosecution.