On December 15, 2017, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced that four men had pled guilty to participating in two 2016 bank burglaries.
Michael Mazzara, Charles Kerrigan, Christopher Kerrigan, and Anthony Mascuzzio burglarized an HSBC Bank branch in Brooklyn and a Maspeth Federal Savings Bank branch in Queens over two weekends in April and May 2016, respectively. Both banks were insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
The Mazzara burglary crew used acetylene blowtorches to cut into the bank vaults from the roofs of the buildings. They stole over $20 million in cash and valuables from the bank vaults and safe deposit boxes.
When the indictments were announced in July 2016, then-NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton compared the Mazzara burglary crew to the robbery crew depicted in the movie Heat.
The complaint
According to the complaint, the burglars accessed the roof of the HSBC bank via the building next door which was vacant and under construction at the time. Surveillance footage shows Mazzara and Charles Kerrigan carrying burglary equipment into and out of the vacant storefront throughout the weekend of the burglary. The burglars cut alarm wires coming from the vault inside the bank. They also cut telephone wires in a utility box one block away from the bank.
At the Maspeth bank, the burglars constructed a plywood shed on the roof of the building and painted it black to shield their activities from view.
The complaint alleged that the defendants were responsible for other bank burglaries in and around New York City.
It also revealed that the FBI had placed a pole camera across the street from Mazzara’s home in Brooklyn in November 2014. Surveillance footage from the pole camera tied the defendants to both the HSBC and Maspeth burglaries.
The guilty pleas
On November 9, Christopher Kerrigan, 40, of Staten Island, New York, pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank burglary and bank theft, one count of bank burglary, and one count of bank theft. He is scheduled to be sentenced on March 30.
On December 11, Charles “Duke” Kerrigan, 42, of Brooklyn, New York, pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank burglary and bank theft, two counts of bank burglary, two counts of bank theft, and one count of witness retaliation while on pre-trial release. He is scheduled to be sentenced on April 6.
On December 13, Michael Mazzara, 45, of Brooklyn, New York, pled guilty to two counts of bank theft. He is scheduled to be sentenced on April 13.
On December 15, Anthony Mascuzzio, 38, of Brooklyn, New York, pled guilty to two counts of bank theft. He also agreed to forfeit all property traceable to the offenses. Mascuzzio is scheduled to be sentenced on May 4.
Update: All of the defendants have been sentenced. Here are links to coverage of the sentencing hearings: