Steven Wisnowski told a teller: "Give me what I want and nobody gets hurt."
A Barnegat Township man pleaded guilty Tuesday to federal charges that he embarked on a three-month robbery spree in 2013 and 2014, hitting eight different banks in a variety of disguises and threatening tellers with violence.
Steven Wisnowski, 32, faces up to 20 years in prison on each count when he is sentenced in October, the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a release.
Appearing before U.S. District Judge Peter J. Sheridan in Trenton, Wisnowski admitted first robbing a PNC Bank branch in Edison on Oct. 30, 2013. By Jan. 7, 2014, he would rob seven more banks in Brick, Edison, Toms River, Aberdeen and Bayside, N.Y. Court documents show his total haul amounted to $31,290.
Wisnowski, authorities said, used a similar procedure in each of the robberies, obscuring his identity with hats, hooded sweatshirts or wigs, then demanding high-denomination bills from tellers.
"Give me all your hundreds," he demanded during the robbery of a Columbia Bank branch in Edison, authorities said.
He also made tellers believe he could be armed with a gun. During the robbery of a Fulton Bank in Edison, authorities said, Wisnowski lifted his sweatshirt as if he was hiding a gun there and told a teller, "Give me what I want and nobody gets hurt. I want large bills."
Authorities caught on to Wisnowski by tracking his car to the Fulton Bank robbery. As the suspect walked out of the bank, a manila envelope filled with cash in his hand, officers approached him at gunpoint and ordered him to the ground.
Instead, Wisnowski tossed the money and ran. He was quickly arrested.
The full list of Wisnowski's robberies:
PNC Bank, Edison, Oct. 30, 2013
TD Bank, Brick, Nov. 7, 2013
Santander Bank, Brick, Nov. 15, 2013
Ridgewood Savings Bank, Bayside, N.Y., Nov. 22, 2013
Columbia Bank, Edison, Nov. 27, 2013
TD Bank, Toms River, Dec. 2, 2013
PNC Bank, Aberdeen, Dec. 9, 2013
Fulton Bank, Edison, Jan. 7, 2014
Mark Mueller may be reached at mmueller@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MarkJMueller. Find NJ.com on Facebook.