Northampton man sentenced to state prison for bank robbery

NORTHAMPTON — A Northampton was sentenced Tuesday to state prison for between four and six years for robbing a Main Street bank last fall.

Sean E. Moynihan, 42, pleaded guilty in Hampshire Superior Court to a charge of unarmed robbery.

Northampton Police were called to TD Bank just before 9 a.m. on Oct. 14, 2017, for a report of a man who had just robbed the bank. With the help of a post to social media, police would later identify the man as Moynihan.

On that day, Moynihan handed a female teller a piece of paper which read, “This is a robbery put the money on the counter dont do anything stupid I have a gun,” according to court documents.

The teller, nervous and afraid, began initiating bank training provided to her in case of such situations. After handing Moynihan approximately $500, he leaned closer and told her to give him the large bills and not to hit the alarm, according to court documents.

He received about $3,000 total, Assistant Northwestern District Attorney Jayme Parent said in court Tuesday. Police posted still images from security cameras of the bank robbery and received calls the same day as the robbery from multiple sources telling police it was Moynihan, Parent said.

Springfield Police located Moynihan on Oct. 15, 2017, at a bus station where he was arrested. Moynihan had been held on $100,000 bail since his arraignment in Northampton District Court on Oct. 16, 2017. He will received credit for the 114 days he has already spent in jail.

In court, Parent asked the judge to sentence Moynihan to six to eight years in state prison as this was Moynihan’s third unarmed robbery conviction since 2004.

Defense attorney Alan Rubin argued for a four- to six-year state prison sentence. Rubin told the judge Moynihan became addicted to heroin after being prescribed opioids for a knee injury in 2001. Rubin said Moynihan had fallen off the wagon at the time of the incident.

“It’s been a 15 year struggle for Mr. Moynihan to deal with that,” Rubin said.

Judge Richard Carey sentenced Moynihan to four to six years in state prison.