Man Sentenced For Multiple Burglaries Of Levittown-Area Businesses

A Falls Township man was sentenced to serve three to six years in state prison, followed by 20 years of consecutive probation, for a string of robberies in Middletown, Bristol and Falls.

Joseph DiVergigelis, 50, pleaded guilty on Oct. 25 to four counts of robbery, all first-degree felonies, according to information from the Bucks County District Attorney's office.

On Nov. 15, 2015, DiVergigelis robbed a Sports Authority store on East Lincoln Highway in Middletown. A cashier told police that a man wearing sunglasses and a black, curly wig demanded all of her money and pulled a gun, according to authorities. He escaped with $250 after ordering the cashier to the rear of the store.

Two weeks later, DiVergigelis robbed a Pet Valu store on Oxford Valley Road in Bristol Township. Again wearing sunglasses and a black wig, he took about $800 after pulling a gun and ordering the cashier to the rear of the store, the District Attorney's office said.

At 4 a.m. on Dec. 29, 2015, DiVergigelis robbed the 7-Eleven store on Veterans Highway in Middletown, the District Attorney's office said. After implying to the cashier that he had a weapon, he escaped with $190.

On Jan. 7, 2016, DiVergigelis robbed a Sunoco station on New Falls Road in Falls Township. Wearing a black mask over his face, he pointed a handgun at an employee and demanded all of the money in the cash register, about $250. The employee watched DiVergigelis walk to the parking lot of an adjacent apartment complex and get into a full-size red pickup truck, according to the District Attorney's office.

Authorities tracked down DiVergigelis after seeing a truck matching the description of the vehicle linked to the latter two robberies parked outside his house on Tanglewood Lane.

"A subsequent search of the truck turned up a gun, a black wig, a mask and other evidence concealed under the hood of the truck," authorities with the Bucks County District Attorney's office said.

The judge said that if DiVergigelis has no misconducts during his first year in prison, he would recommend that he be allowed to serve his remaining time in a therapeutic community.