By: Paul Koepp
Three of the men who allegedly committed the armed heist of a Dayton bank in March pleaded not guilty to that robbery and several other charges in federal court on Monday.
The men, Wilfredo Berrios, 28, Francisco Herrera-Geneo, 22, and Efrain Lynn, 21, all of New Brunswick, are also charged with the attempted robbery of a PNC Bank in Readington on April 5 that resulted in the death of FBI Special Agent Barry Lee Bush, apparently from friendly fire, according to an indictment filed in U.S. District Court on June 1.
The fourth man arrested in connection with the robberies, Michael Cruz, 21, also of New Brunswick, is not named in the indictment.
According to the indictment, Mr. Berrios, Mr. Herrera-Geneo, and Mr. Lynn stole about $33,066 from the Bank of America on Summerfield Avenue in Dayton on March 16. A criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in April said that Mr. Cruz admitted to driving the getaway car for the robbery.
According to the complaint, Mr. Cruz also identified Mr. Herrera-Geneo as the man who fired a .380-caliber handgun into the wall during the robbery. The shot ricocheted and broke a teller’s window, causing a teller to be struck in the face by glass and bullet fragments.
Mr. Herrera-Geneo and Mr. Berrios both face five counts of armed bank robbery and five counts of possessing a weapon in furtherance of a violent crime. They could be sentenced to a mandatory minimum of 110 years in prison if convicted of all of the charges.
Mr. Lynn is charged with three counts of armed bank robbery and five counts of the weapons charge. He could face a minimum of 60 years in prison.
The men are accused in the indictment of stealing a total of $87,615, including robberies of a Commerce Bank in Piscataway on Feb. 8, a Bank of America in East Brunswick on Feb. 16, and a Bank of America in Ocean Township on March 2.
In addition, the men are charged with a conspiracy count covering all of the robberies, which also alleges that they purchased ammunition from an East Brunswick store on three occasions.
Mr. Berrios, also known by his street name, Robo Cop, was arrested along with Mr. Lynn, known as Pepino, and Mr. Cruz when the men tried to rob the PNC Bank on Route 22 in Readington, according to the indictment. Mr. Herrera-Geneo, known as Fongi, was captured nearby the next day.
Weapons seized from the robbers included a .380-caliber handgun, two 7.62-caliber rifles, a .30-caliber rifle and a .22-caliber rifle, as well as several boxes of ammunition, according to the indictment.
"It was inevitable that this gang’s string of armed assaults on banks would end in tragedy," said U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie in a statement. "It is our intention to prosecute these individuals aggressively under federal law and to see that they each spend a very long time in prison."
William Harth, a lawyer for Mr. Berrios, said his client is a "hard-working guy" who was employed at a Church & Dwight warehouse and sent money back to his family in Honduras. Attorneys for the other suspects did not return calls.
The trial in U.S. District Court in Trenton is tentatively set to start in late August or early September. All four men are still in federal custody and being held without bail.

