Teller Went To Aruba After Insider Bank Robbery

YONKERS, NY — A former teller who took a trip to Aruba with one of the four men who robbed her bank in a violent hold-up was found guilty Monday of participating in the robbery.

Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that Virginia Blanco found guilty on all counts of a three-count Indictment yesterday that charged her with participating in the robbery of a Wells Fargo Bank branch in Yonkers in 2013. The verdict came following a four-day jury trial in White Plains federal court before U.S. District Judge Cathy Seibel.

“The robbery of the Wells Fargo Bank branch in Yonkers was an inside job," Berman said in his announcement. "With yesterday’s verdict, Virginia Blanco, the insider who made the violent robbery possible, stands convicted.”

Blanco was working as a teller at the Wells Fargo Bank branch at 500 Odell Ave. in 2013. She conspired with co-defendant Giovanny Marte to rob the bank, and provided critical information to Marte that allowed him and his co-conspirators to carry out the robbery successfully.

At 3:17 p.m., Oct. 29, 2013, Marte and three other men arrived at the Wells Fargo Branch. One remained in the car while Marte and two co-conspirators entered the bank.

Marte and another robber each brandished a firearm and the third robber brandished a wood saw. During the robbery, Marte fired two shots but did not hit anyone. He accessed the vault, filled a laundry bag with roughly $303,500 in cash, and fled with the other robbers.

Afterward, Blanco and Marte took a trip together to Aruba using proceeds from the robbery.

Blanco, 29, faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison on Count One (conspiracy), a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison on Count Two (bank robbery); and a maximum sentence of life in prison, with a mandatory minimum of 10 years, on Count Three (firearm offense). The maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.

She is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 19, 2018.

Berman praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI’s Westchester County Safe Streets Task Force, which comprises agents and detectives of the FBI, United States Probation, the City of Yonkers Police Department, the City of Peekskill Police Department, the City of Mount Vernon Police Department, the New York City Police Department, the Westchester County Police, the Greenburgh Police Department, New York State Police, and the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office.

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