WEST NEW YORK — According to U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman, a West New York man pleaded guilty on Friday to the 2009 robbery of $30,000 from an Investors Savings Bank in Springfield, NJ.
According to a statement released by the U.S. Attorney’s office, Philip Tatis, 44, walked into the bank on March 2, 2009 and approached a bank teller with a note which stated that a bank customer had been kidnapped by Tatis and his partner at gunpoint and that the teller must give him $30,000 in less than two minutes.
The teller complied and Tatis fled with the money, but in reality, Tatis did not have a partner and had not taken a hostage.
Tatis was not identified by authorities until earlier this year when his roommate walked into a deli near the West New York apartment they shared on Jan. 25 to warn them that Tatis was in their apartment with a gun writing a note to use in a bank robbery. Cops ran the name and confirmed that Tatis was wanted in the Springfield robbery.
When they arrived at his home, Tatis locked himself inside the apartment and threatened to shoot himself and police. A seven-hour standoff ensued and Tatis was arrested later that evening.
Tatis faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 on the bank robbery charge to which he pleaded guilty, as well as restitution ordered by the court.