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Fort Lee Knifepoint Bank Robber Gets 3½ Years In Fed Pen

A Bronx man was sentenced Wednesday to 44 months in federal prison for robbing a Fort Lee bank at knifepoint of $50,000.

Bank of New Jersey, Palisade Avenue, Fort Lee

Bank of New Jersey, Palisade Avenue, Fort Lee

Photo Credit: COURTESY: BONJ.net

Andres Dominguez, 39, will have to serve nearly the entire term: There's no parole in the federal prison system.

Dominquez admitted last year that he was wearing a gray Nike hooded sweatshirt, a blue rubber glove, sunglasses, a wool hat, black Adidas pants, and white sneakers when he entered the Bank of New Jersey branch on Palisade Avenue on Jan. 12, 2017.

He "approached one of the bank tellers with a large kitchen knife in his right hand and jumped onto the counter separating the tellers from customers," U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said.

Dominguez "then demanded money from the teller and instructed the teller to give him all the money in the teller drawers or he would kill her," Carpenito said.

"The teller complied, and [Dominguez] jumped back over the counter and fled the bank on foot," the U.S. attorney said.

Authorities recovered the knife from a dumpster behind the bank. 

They also found two blue rubber gloves, a gray Nike hooded sweatshirt, and a dark wool hat on the street at various locations within a few blocks of the bank.

The FBI and Fort Lee police arrested Dominguez in the Bronx days later.

Carpenito credited the FBI with the investigation and arrest, while also thanking Fort Lee police. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason S. Gould of the U.S. Attorney's Criminal Division in Newark handled the case.

In addition to the 44-month prison term, U.S. District Judge William H. Walls sentenced Dominguez to three years of supervised release during a hearing in Newark.

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