GPS Technology Provides Assistance in Case Against Fitchburg Bank Robber

BOSTON—A Fitchburg man was sentenced to prison today for his role in five bank robberies across Central Massachusetts. The case against Keith D. Cormier was made with the assistance of GPS technology.

U.S. District Judge F. Dennis Saylor, IV sentenced Cormier to 56 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. Cormier, 45, was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $11,485, the money which he stole from the banks. In September 2011, Cormier pleaded guilty to committing five bank robberies; between October and June 2010, Cormier robbed banks in Shrewsbury, Leominster (two), Worcester, and Gardner.

In each case, Cormier entered the bank wearing a disguise, with his face wrapped in gauze, and passed the teller a note demanding money. He retrieved the note and fled the bank with the proceeds of the robbery. The most compelling evidence against Cormier was derived from two separate GPS devices. One GPS device was installed by his employer in the company truck which Cormier drove to and from the robberies. The data from the GPS device indicated that Cormier’s work truck was within blocks of each of the banks at the time of the robbery and departed the area within minutes after Cormier fled the banks.

The second GPS device was secreted in a stack of bills by an alert teller during the robbery of a Citizen’s Bank on Oct. 28, 2010. This GPS device resulted in the police tracking Cormier’s van and arresting him a short distance away from the bank, with the proceeds from the robbery and his disguise inside the truck.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division, made the announcement today. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, as well as detectives from the Shrewsbury, Leominster, Worcester, and Gardner Police Departments. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Cory Flashner of Ortiz’s Worcester Branch Office.