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Eddy Cruz, 42, must serve out the entire sentence because there's no parole in the federal prison system.
Cruz admitted in August that he robbed a TD Bank branch in Fort Lee on Feb. 13, 2017 and another in Hasbrouck Heights five days later, wearing a mask to disguise his identity both times and handing the tellers notes demanding cash.
He said he also robbed a PNC Bank branch in Jackson Township on Christmas Eve 2013.
The total take: $10,556.
Cruz was about to hit an Englewood bank on Feb. 24, 2017 when a team of investigators moved in and arrested him without incident, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said.
The team followed him that day to Englewood from a Manhattan location, Carpenito said.
Cruz parked his red 2017 Mitsubishi Mirage near the Demarest Avenue TD Bank just before noon -- once again while wearing the disguise -- when his captors moved in.
In his car, federal agents found latex gloves, a scarf, sunglasses, and the tight-fitting mask – along with a handwritten note demanding money.
Cruz was eventually taken to Bergen Regional Medical Center for a medical screening before being committed to the Bergen County Jail. The Mitsubishi was impounded.
Besides the 60-month federal prison stretch, U.S. District Court Peter G. Sheridan sentenced Cruz to three years of supervised release and ordered him to pay full restitution.
Carpenito credited the FBI offices in New Jersey and New York; the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office; and police departments in Fort Lee, Hasbrouck Heights, Paramus, and Roxbury, as well as those in Greenburg, Mount Pleasant and Yonkers, N.Y., along with the NYPD – all of whom participated in the Robbery Task Force that took down Cruz.
Handing the case is Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua L. Haber of Fishman’s General Crimes Unit in Newark.
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