New Haven Woman Sentenced for Crime Spree, Robbing Bank Dressed as Nun

A New Haven, Connecticut woman is headed to prison for her role in a month-long crime spree in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, including an attempted bank robbery in which she and another woman dressed as nuns.

Swahilys Pedraza-Rodriguez received a 15-month sentence Thursday.

The 20-year-old New Haven woman had 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.

Melisa-Aquino-Arias-Swahilys-Pedraza-Rodriguez — Melisa Aquino Arias (L), of the Dominican Republic and Swahilys Pedraza-Rodriguez(R), of New Haven, Conn., appeared before a judge in Newark, N.J., on Monday, Oct. 16, 2017, charged with robbing banks in Garfield, N.J., on Sept. 27, 2017, and Teaneck, N.J., on Sunday, Oct. 15, 2017, while one or both wore head scarves. The women are also suspected of trying to rob a bank Aug. 28, 2017, in the Pocono Mountains town of Tannersville, Pa., while dressed as nuns.

Her co-defendant, 24-year-old Melisa Aquino Arias of Passaic, New Jersey, received a 37-month sentence Wednesday.

The two were arrested last October, 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.