A messy bank robber who had been compared to Tom Thumb because of the traces left during his escape was finally sentenced to 5 and a half years in prison.
• To read also: A bank robber compared to Tom Thumb
“The accused is a hard drug user, he does not remember what he did,” said judge Josée Bélanger before sentencing Nikitos Keramarios on Tuesday at the Montreal courthouse.
Head bowed, seated in the dock, Keramarios, 58, did not say a word during the hearing during which the magistrate reminded him of his not very well executed crime in December 2020.
At the time, he had taken it into his head to rob a Desjardins branch in Little Italy in order to pay for drugs. But even if he had planned his crime to a certain extent, everything did not go as planned.
“Like Tom Thumb, he left traces throughout his journey, as will be shown by excerpts from certain surveillance cameras,” the judge had described, summarizing the theory of Crown prosecutor Philippe Vallières-Roland, when she had convicted him of robbery, threats and assault.
In taxi
To get to the bank, Keramarios had taken a taxi. Before getting off, he asked the driver to wait for him. Masked and pretending to have a gun in his coat, he then demanded the contents of the cash register, and especially “big bills”.
After collecting $5,900 in loot and unaware that several tickets were “marked”, he drove off in the same taxi, asking the driver to speed off.
Soon after, he continued his escape on foot, paying the driver $100 for his silence. The latter took the money, before calling the police.
Not discrete
But Keramarios’ mistakes didn’t stop there. Because rather than hiding the money, he chose to deposit it… in his own bank account. The height: he exhibited his loot, before arguing with a client. By threatening the latter, he cut his finger.
He was arrested a few hours later at his home, thanks to the traces left throughout his adventure.
Taking into account the preventive detention, he has 41 months left to serve.
Keramarios, who has a long criminal record, said he would try to get back on track.
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