2003-09-19 -- Fleetwood, Aaron -- Guilty Plea -- News Release

Camden Man Pleads Guilty to Committing Armed Bank Robbery

CAMDEN - A Camden man pleaded guilty today to committing an armed robbery of a Sun National Bank branch using a sawed-off shotgun to threaten bank tellers, U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie announced.

Aaron Fleetwood, 24, entered his plea in U.S. District Court in Camden before U.S. District Judge Robert B. Kugler, who scheduled sentencing for Dec. 22, 2003.

At his plea hearing, Fleetwood admitted that he and an accomplice planned the armed bank robbery of a Sun National Bank branch on Blackwood-Clementon Road in Gloucester Township. Furthermore, Fleetwood admitted that upon entering the bank on Oct.30, 2002, he brandished a sawed-off shotgun and vaulted the teller's counter. He admitted to then pointing the shotgun at bank employees and demanded money from the tellers. Fleetwood admitted that after fleeing the bank in a car, the two men divided the stolen $8,508.

Fleetwood pleaded guilty to a one-count Information charging him with bank robbery; he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. Fleetwood's accomplice, Forrest Michael Baker, 41, of Beverly, previously pleaded guilty to committing five bank robberies and is awaiting sentencing on Oct.31. Baker faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine on each of the five bank robbery counts, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney David Bocian.

Fleetwood and Baker remain in federal custody.

Under U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Judge Kugler will determine their actual sentences based upon a formula that takes into account the severity and characteristics of the offense, and the defendants' criminal history, if any. Parole has been abolished in the federal system. Under Sentencing Guidelines, defendants who are given custodial terms must serve nearly all that time.

In the filing of a felony Information, a defendant waives the right to have his or her case presented to a federal grand jury and, instead, pleads guilty to charges presented by the Government.

Christie credited Special Agents of the FBI South Jersey Resident Agency, under the supervision of Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey Lampinski of the FBI's Philadelphia Office; the U.S. Marshal's Service, under the direction of U.S. Marshal James Plousis; and, Police Officers from the Gloucester Township Police Department, under the direction of Chief John Stollsteimer, with developing the investigation which resulted in today's guilty plea.

The Government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney David Bocian, of the U.S. Attorney's Criminal Division in Trenton.

Defense Attorney: Martin I. Isenberg, Esq. Gibbsboro