Pa. man sentenced to 84 months’ imprisonment for committing 4 bank robberies, including 1 in Morris County
SCRANTON, PA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania recently announced that Damen Drakeford, 30, of Wilkes-Barre was sentenced on March 7 to 84 months’ imprisonment for committing multiple bank robberies.
According to United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam, Drakeford previously entered a guilty plea and admitted to committing four bank robberies in July 2023: two in Pennsylvania and two New in Jersey. A total of $32,988 was taken in the robberies.
Specifically, Drakeford admitted to robbing the following institutions:
- Fulton Bank, Netcong, Morris County, on July 7, 2023;
- Provident Bank, Fair Lawn, New Jersey, on July 11, 2023;
- Fidelity Bank, Upper Mount Bethel Township, Pennsylvania, on July 11, 2023; and
- M&T Bank, Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, on July 14, 2023.
After the M&T Bank robbery in Stroudsburg, Drakeford was apprehended by members of the Pennsylvania State Police and the Stroud Area Regional Police Department, after he led the police on a high-speed vehicle chase, crashed his vehicle, and ran into the nearby woods where he was arrested by the police.
The charges against the defendant resulted from an investigation conducted by the Stroud Area Regional Police Department, the Pennsylvania State Police, and the FBI Safe Streets Task Force. Members of the Fair Lawn and Netcong Police Departments in New Jersey, and the New Jersey State Police, also assisted with the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Robert J. O’Hara prosecuted the case.
