PHILADELPHIA—Dragos Ungurean, 30, of Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, was sentenced on Friday to 63 months in prison for attempting to rob the Wyomissing branch of M&T Bank. He pleaded guilty to the charge on June 27, 2012. On March 19, 2012, Ungurean walked into the bank at 800 Penn Avenue in Wyomissing, threatened to blow up a bomb or explosive device attached to his person, and demanded money. Ungurean was subdued and handcuffed after a scuffle with an on-duty plain clothes investigator, George R. Bell, Jr., from the Wyomissing Police Department. The officer was utilizing the bank as a customer at the time of the attempted robbery. The bomb or explosive device was fake.
In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence F. Stengel ordered three years of supervised release and a $1,000 fine. The judge also referred to the actions of investigator Bell as “heroic” for subduing the defendant on his own.
