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Roslyn Savings Bank was one of the four branches that the crew robbed in 2017.
By Forum Staff
A Far Rockaway man has pleaded guilty to his role in a crew of bandits that robbed four banks last year, according to federal prosecutors.
Leroy Scott, 28, recently copped to charges of armed bank robbery and firearms possession.
According to court documents, on Aug. 21, 2017, Scott acted as a lookout for fellow crew member Pedro Benitez, who entered the Bridgehampton Savings Bank in Hewlett, L.I., ordered customers and employees to the floor at gunpoint and demanded money from bank employees. Another crew member, Troy Tavares, waited outside in a vehicle. Benitez fled the bank with more than $12,000 and Tavares drove Benitez to a nearby location where they met up with Scott and another member to split the proceeds.
In pleading guilty, Scott admitted that he had also participated in two additional robberies that the crew committed during the summer of 2017, both in Nassau County. In each of those robberies, Scott had assisted in the planning and acted as a lookout for Benitez.
In total, the robbery crew stole more than $70,000 from four banks between July and September of 2017.
Scott is the last crew member to plead guilty in the case. When sentenced, he faces up to 25 years’ imprisonment for the bank robbery charge and a minimum of seven years’ imprisonment for the firearms charge.
