Duo is sentenced to two and three years in prison for going on a bank robbing spree disguised as nuns
- Swahilys Pedraza-Rodriguez, 20, and Melisa Aquino Arias, 24, were sentenced
- Arias received 37 months in prison while Pedraza-Rodriguez got 15 months
- The pair went on a bank robbery spree across New Jersey and Pennsylvania
- They dressed in full nun’s habits, and wore sunglasses to hide their identities
- Surveillance footage of the Pennsylvania heist shows two women dressed as nuns who ran away without money after an alarm was triggered
Two women are headed to prison for their role in a month-long crime spree across two states, including an attempted bank robbery in Pennsylvania where they dressed as nuns.
Melisa Aquino Arias, 24, of Passaic, New Jersey, received a 37-month sentence Wednesday.
Her co-conspirator Swahilys Pedraza-Rodriguez, 20, of New Haven, Connecticut, received a 15-month sentence Thursday.
The women pleaded guilty in June to robbing a bank in Garfield, New Jersey, while wearing a head covering and conspiring to steal money from an ATM at a bank in Scotrun, Pennsylvania.
Swahilys Pedraza-Rodriguez, 20, and Melisa Aquino Arias, 24, were sentenced to two and three years in jail
The pair went on a bank robbery spree across New Jersey and Pennsylvania
Aria’s guilty plea came just weeks after her co-defendant Pedraza-Rodriguez pleaded guilty to the same offenses
Both women faced up to 41 years in prison but received about three years.
The pair were arrested about two weeks after the Garfield robbery, when they went to a Teaneck bank and asked about opening an account.
An employee recognized them and called police.
The FBI posted surveillance photos of the Pennsylvania heist on Twitter, showing the women in nun attire, with sunglasses and flashing handguns.
Surveillance footage of the Pennsylvania heist shows two women dressed as nuns who ran away without money after an alarm was triggered
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