Convict must report to sober house

Court gives robber ‘another’ chance after parole violation

NEW HAVEN >> A federal court judge ruled Monday that a Middletown man who had violated his conditions of release in a bank robbery case could stay out of federal custody and move to a sober house.

“There is interest here in helping you get help,” said U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Merriam in a bond hearing for the defendant, Matthew Dragone, who has been convicted of a federal bank rob-

bery charge.

“This is a serious enough case,” Merriam added. “It could get even worse.”

Dragone, 31, allegedly violated his previous conditions of release by using drugs, according to statements made in court Monday. Merriam said using drugs poses a threat to the community and, if he were caught again, he likely would be put back into federal custody and his $50,000 bond, co-signed by his parents, could be forfeited.

“I’m willing to give you another chance,” Merriam said. “But at some point those chances run out.”

Merriam ordered Dragone to report to a sober house on Friday and ruled that he will be confined to the house between 9:30 p.m. and 6 a.m. He is only allowed to be out of the sober house after 7 p.m. if he is receiving treatment or at work, the court ordered.

Dragone pleaded guilty in February to one count of bank robbery, for which he was charged in a federal complaint in September. While he was only charged in connection with one bank robbery, Liberty Bank on Main Street in Durham last September, he admitted to six other bank robberies in making the plea deal.

“I’m not sure Mr. Dragone realizes how lucky he is,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas Morabito said during the hearing Monday. “I don’t know any bank robber that gets out on bond, let alone one who robbed seven banks.”

“He’s looking at a substantial term in prison,” Morabito added.

Federal bank robbery charges carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, according to federal statutes.

Dragone was arrested on Sept. 21, 2015, in connection with the Sept. 3 robbery of Liberty Bank. According to the affidavit, he allegedly entered the bank wearing a baseball hat and long-sleeved shirt. He was carrying a cellphone in his left hand at waist height and handed a bank teller a note that read, “remain calm place 10’s, 20’s, 50’s, 100’s in bag, no dye packs, no GPS, I will check.”

Dragone took $1,490 from the bank that day and then discarded his baseball cap and shirt, which he was seen wearing in surveillance footage, 50 yards from the bank, according to the affidavit.

FBI Special Agent Lisa McNamara noted in the affidavit that there were a number of other reported robberies during which a white male, described as 6 feet tall and carrying a cellphone in his left hand at waist height, approached a bank teller and passed over the same note demanding money. These occurred in Cheshire, Berlin, Deep River, Wethersfield, Rocky Hill and Killingworth.

Federal authorities received help from confidential informants, witnesses and acquaintances who could identify Dragone’s car, which was the vehicle seen in surveillance video and believed to be the getaway car during the robberies.

Dragone is scheduled to be sentenced in May.