The heists took place over the course of a year in Hunterdon, Middlesex and Somerset counties
A Somerset County man could spend decades in prison after admitting he robbed five Central Jersey banks in a year.
Luis Castaneda Luis Castaneda, 40, of Bound Brook also pleaded guilty to the attempted robbery of a sixth bank, the U.S. Attorney's Office for New Jersey said in a news release on Monday.
The robberies took place between June 2014 and June 2015, officials said. In one of the heists, Castaneda displayed a gun, officials said.
Castaneda faces up to 20 years in prison for each conviction. The gun charge carried a mandatory seven-year sentence which must be served consecutively to the punishment for the robberies, authorities said.
Castaneda will be sentenced Feb. 17, 2017.
The banks he robbed and the amounts stolen, according to charging documents:
- $12,683 from County Educators Federal Credit Union in Somerville om June 6, 2014
- $13,584 from Manville Area Federal Credit Union in Manville on Dec. 3, 2014
- $10,709 from Public Service Credit Union in Middlesex on March 19, 2015
- About $16,000 from Unity Bank in Readington on May 9, 2015
- $6,430 from Somerset Savings Bank in Franklin Township on June 12, 2015
Castaneda also attempted to rob Peapack-Gladstone Bank in Piscataway on the same day he hit Unity Bank.
Carmelo Soto Jr. of Manville and Jaime Ayuso of Hillsborough were also charged in the Somerville robbery.
Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Find NJ.com on Facebook.