NEWARK, N.J. – Two brothers were re-sentenced to 360 months in prison for committing two violent armed bank robberies and conspiring to rob an armored car in 1997 and 1998, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced Tuesday.
Charles Rodriguez, 58, and Joseph Rodriguez, 57, both of New Jersey, were originally sentenced to life in prison in 2000 following their convictions on multiple charges, including armed robbery, carjacking, and firearms offenses. Their re-sentencing comes after one firearms count was dismissed due to legal changes under 18 U.S.C. § 2255.
On July 19, 1997, Charles and Joseph Rodriguez, along with two others, robbed the Corestates Bank branch in Woodlynne, New Jersey. Armed with rifles and handguns and wearing masks and body armor, they terrorized employees and customers, struck victims with rifle stocks, and issued death threats. The group fled in stolen vehicles, setting one on fire before switching cars, and escaped with $64,039.
Nearly a year later, on May 23, 1998, the brothers and one accomplice robbed the Commerce Bank branch in Moorestown, New Jersey. Armed and masked, they shot out the entrance doors, fired shots into the bank ceiling and at a plexiglass vault door, and threatened to kill victims. The group fled with $15,373, eventually abandoning their initial stolen getaway vehicle and carjacking an employee’s car to aid their escape.
On September 1, 1998, the brothers and co-defendant Jose Soto planned to rob an armored car at the Walt Whitman rest stop on the New Jersey Turnpike in Cherry Hill. Armed with machine guns, bulletproof vests, and approximately 1,000 rounds of ammunition, they were prevented from carrying out the crime by law enforcement intervention.
While Jose Soto was acquitted of the bank robberies and sentenced in 2022 to time served for his involvement in the armored car plot, Charles and Joseph Rodriguez were re-sentenced on the remaining charges.