Wazny
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A Wilkes-Barre police officer looks over the Ford Fiesta crashed by an alleged bank robber in Ashley on July 23, 2021. Times Leader file photo
SCRANTON — A man from Dunmore who robbed the M&T Bank branch on Coal Street, Wilkes-Barre, with a Sears and Roebuck 12-gauge shotgun and fled in a Ford Fiesta was sentenced in federal court.
Robert Wazny, 33, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Robert D. Mariani to 84 months in federal prison for bank robbery by brandishing a firearm, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney Gerard M. Karam.
Wazny pleaded guilty to brandishing a firearm during the bank robbery of M&T Bank on July 23, 2021.
During the robbery, Wazny pointed a 12-gauge shotgun at employees while demanding cash, the news release says.
A criminal complaint filed against Wazny by Wilkes-Barre police alleged Wazny entered the bank and immediately approached the counter yelling at a teller to give him money. Wazny was armed with a long rifle during the robbery, the complaint says.
Wazny fled the bank in a 2019 Ford Fiesta.
As city police officers were interviewing witnesses at the bank, police pursued Wazny who crashed into a pole on West Hartford Street near North Main Street in Ashley.
Wazny fled the wrecked Ford on foot carrying a backpack filled with cash and was quickly apprehended.
The Sears and Roebuck shotgun and three buckshot shells were found in the wrecked Ford, the news release says.
FBI in Scranton and Wilkes-Barre police investigated.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd K. Hinkley prosecuted the case.