Feds: Convicted hitman sentenced in string of violent Conn. bank robberies

A convicted hitman and armed robber who held up three Connecticut banks between April and December 2014 was sentenced Thursday to a decade in prison followed by three years of supervised release, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut.

Bomani Africa, 62, most recently of Philadelphia, is also guilty of a May 22, 2014, contract killing in New Jersey, the U.S. attorney’s office said. Africa and his associate George Bratsenis both pleaded guilty to murderfor-hire charges in the District of New Jersey in connection with that case, the office said. They await sentencing.

The U.S. attorney’s office said Africa has a lengthy criminal history that includes multiple convictions for robbery offenses. He and Bratsenis met as fellow inmates in a New Jersey state prison, according to the U.S. attorney’s office. Their Connecticut robbery spree began on April 20, 2014, when the two targeted the People’s United Bank on Old Kings Highway Road in

Darien, the office said.

That day, Bratsenis, driving a pickup truck, dropped Africa off in downtown Darien, according to the U.S. attorney’s office. Africa then entered the bank, pulled a gun, sprang over the teller counter and ordered a teller to open drawers or face physical violence, the office said.

“I will shoot you if you don’t give me all your money!” Africa said, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

Africa fled the bank with a substantial amount of cash, the U.S. attorney’s office said. He was picked up by Bratsenis a short distance away, and both men left the scene, the office said.

In September 2014, Africa and Bratsenis began conspiring to rob another Connecticut bank with the help of Africa’s son, Randi Feliciano, according to the U.S. attorney’s office. Early in the morning on Sept. 25, 2014, Feliciano drove Africa from Philadelphia to a parking lot in Trumbull, the office said.

There, Africa stole a car from a person at gunpoint around 8:30 a.m., according to the U.S. attorney’s office. The next morning, Africa and Bratsenis, wearing masks and wielding firearms, robbed the People’s United Bank on Madison Avenue in Trumbull, making off with nearly $30,000. They escaped in the stolen car and parked it in a nearby parking lot before setting it on fire, the office said.

Feliciano picked up Africa in the parking lot and followed Bratsenis to a Norwalk restaurant to divide the robbery proceeds, according to the U.S. attorney’s office. He then drove his father back to Philadelphia.

Roughly two and a half months later, Africa and Feliciano robbed a bank on their own, according to the U.S. attorney’s office. Disguised and armed, they stole more than $15,000 from the First Niagara Bank on Hawley Lane in Stratford on Dec. 13, the office said.

The robberies were investigated by the FBI as well as the Darien, Trumbull, Stratford and Bridgeport police departments, according to the U.S. attorney’s office. Africa was arrested on May 28, 2015. and pleaded guilty to armed bank robbery on Dec. 16, 2015, the office said. He was sentenced to 120 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer in New Haven.