09-20-05 -- Sease, Reginald -- Sentencing -- News Release

Bridgeton Man Sentenced To 5 Years In Federal Prison For His Role In Connection with Bridgeton Bank Robbery

CAMDEN - A Bridgeton man was sentenced to 5 years in federal prison today in connection with the July 2004 robbery of the Minotola National Bank located in Bridgeton, U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie announced.

U.S. District Judge Freda L. Wolfson, who presided over the 4-day trial, also ordered Reginald Sease, 32, to serve three years of supervised release upon the completion of his prison sentence and to pay $3142 in restitution.

On May 31, 2005, after 7 hours of deliberations, the jury convicted Sease on one count of conspiracy to rob the Minotola Bank. The jury acquitted the defendant of Count Two of the Superseding Indictment charging bank robbery.

According to a Superseding Indictment, Sease conspired with William Brantley, 31, of Bridgeton, to rob the Minotola Bank located on North Pearl St. Brantley pleaded guilty to a charge of bank robbery on Nov. 19, 2004. Brantley was sentenced to 12 years in prison on July 12, 2005.

According to trial testimony and evidence, Sease picked up Brantley in a car and dropped him off in a neighborhood near the bank. Sease then drove to a prearranged meeting place in the neighborhood and waited for Brantley.

According to testimony and evidence, after being dropped off, Brantley entered the Minotola Bank, robbed it of $5,842 and then fled on foot to where Sease was waiting in the vehicle. Sease and Brantley then fled in the vehicle to a location where they then attempted to wash the cash in a bucket to remove dye from a dye pack that had exploded. According to testimony and evidence, Sease and Brantley then further attempted to clean the money at another location, using a washing machine and dryer. After drying the money, Sease and Brantley divide up the proceeds from the robbery, according to testimony.

In determining an actual sentence, Judge Wolfson consulted the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, which provide appropriate sentencing ranges that take into account the severity and characteristics of the offense, the defendant's criminal history, if any, and other factors. The judge, however, is not bound by those guidelines in determining a sentence.

Parole has been abolished in the federal system. Defendants who are given custodial terms must serve nearly all that time.

Christie credited Special Agents of the FBI Atlantic City Resident Agency, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Leslie Wiser, Jr., and Police Officers with the Bridgeton Police Department, under the direction of Chief Jeffrey Wentz.

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Defense Attorney: Peter Bruso, Esq. Pleasantville