Edgartown resident Petar Petyoshin pleaded guilty today in federal court to armed bank robbery at a Rockland Trust Bank in Falmouth in April.
Petyoshin was arrested on state charges in May on the Vineyard after a weeks-long, multi-agency investigation.
The armed bank robbery charge for Petyoshin, a husband and father of three, provides for up to 25 years in prison, up to five years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000. His sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 24.
Petyoshin’s guilty plea was announced today by Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy, by special agent in charge of the FBI’s Boston Division Jodi Cohen, and by Interim Colonel of the Massachusetts State Police John Mawn Jr. Assistance was provided by the Falmouth and Edgartown Police Departments, Barnstable County Sheriff’s Department, and the Cape & Islands District Attorney’s Office.
The robber, who wore a wig, sunglasses, and a surgical mask, zip-tied bank employees and customers, took $20,000 from the bank at gunpoint, placed fake C-4 on its counter, and left the scene in a bank customer’s vehicle. Witnesses said the robber placed signs on the entrance of the bank warning customers not to come in.
In May, Petyoshin was arraigned on charges of armed and masked robbery with a firearm, bomb/hijack threat, larceny over $1,200, carjacking, and seven counts of kidnapping.
A search of Petyoshin’s Chase Road home after his arrest recovered thousands of dollars in cash in Rockland Trust money bands. The raid also uncovered zip-ties, clothing worn by the robber, 57 firearms, and a large amount of ammunition. The jacket worn by the robber was found in a search of Petyoshin’s personal locker at the Oak Bluffs Water Department, where he was employed.
The jacket, sunglasses, and wig worn by the robber were also found displayed on the Facebook page for Petyoshin’s clothing store, Dapper Martha’s Vineyard.
The first smart thing he has done, hope he gets some leniency and can be some type of decent presence in his children’s lives.
He has never done anything smart? How well do you know him? Other than what you have read in the newspaper. You speak beyond your depth.
I don’t need to know him although I have spoken with him a few times. You fail to comprehend that I don’t need to know him because regardless pleading guilty was his best option thus SMART decision.
There’s a reason why most people don’t bother to respond to inane comments written obsessively on every topic imaginable, whether an article be about measles, mumps, or dishpan hands.
I agree it was smart to plead guilty.
All you really know is what you read in the newspaper.
A pity that Sam Bankman-Fried has neither the integrity nor good sense of a common bank robber.
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