Brother, Sister Bank Robbing Team Serves Prison Time
No cash is gone but a bank will have to repair a hole in the ceiling and some cut wires.
Both the brother and sister of a bank-robbing duo are serving time for nine robberies they committed together.
In a bizarre case of sibling collaboration,Sandra Gola, 37, of New Britain, helped her brother, Michael Gola, rob nine banks in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Rhode Island, Nora R. Dannehy, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, said.
Sandra was nabbed after helping her beloved brother rob the Windsor Federal Savings Bank on Broad Street in Windsor of $1,893 on Aug, 24, 2004, Dannehy said.
When she pleaded guilty on Dec. 21, 2007, she also admitted to helping her brother, Michael Gola, rob three additional Connecticut banks and five banks in Massachusetts, New Jersey and Rhode Island in the spring and summer of 2004, Dannehy said.
Each time, Sandra drove Michael to the bank. Michael would go inside and hand the teller a note, in which he said he had a gun and demanded money in big bills, Dannehy said, but never actually showed a weapon. Then, Dannehy said, Sandra would drive him from the bank.
She was sentenced on Aug. 13 to about 10 months in prison and three years of supervised release.
Michael Gola was sentenced on Aug. 29, 2007 to 111 months of imprisonment for committing 28 bank robberies, including the nine he performed with his sister’s help.
But Sandra Gola was not only the driver. She also admitted to writing some of the demand notes, Dannehy said.
Together, the stealing siblings took $21,478 in the nine robberies and shared the proceeds, Dannehy said.
The judge decided not to go with the possible 37 to 46 months in prison because of Sandra Gola’s substantial rehabilitation from an addiction to heroin, Dannehy said.
She will have to ray restitution.
Top Stories
