By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
A homeless man who held up a TD Bank in Princeton was sentenced earlier this month to 10 years in state prison.
The punishment Wesley Gugliuzza received March 11 was in line with the plea bargain he took in January, when he admitted committing the robbery little more than a year ago. Mr. Gugliuzza entered the bank, located on Route 206, around 11:30 a.m. Sept.15, 2014.
During the crime, he passed a teller a note indicating he was armed, although the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office has said no weapon was shown. He stole $2,700, although he was on the run only for a short time when a relative saw his photo on the TV news and contacted law enforcement, the Prosecutor’s Office has said.
He was arrested Sept.16 in Old Bridge, Middlesex County, and charged. A Mercer County grand jury indicted him March, 13, 2015, on second-degree robbery and fourth-degree tampering with physical evidence, charging documents showed.
Mr. Gugliuzza, 30, originally had a rejected a plea bargain and wanted to stand trial, although he changed his mind. This was but his latest brush with the law; his rap sheet has more than a dozen prior convictions for offenses that include drug and weapons crimes.
He must serve 85 percent of his 10-year-sentence for the TD Bank robbery before becoming parole eligible, the Prosecutor’s Office has said.
