Collin Lambert, a 49-year-old from Hunter, pled guilty in Ulster County Court on Tuesday, September 9 to robbing banks in New Paltz and Saugerties in 2013, according to a press release from Holley Carnright, the Ulster County District Attorney.
Left: Collin Lambert. Photo via the Ulster County DA's office.
Lambert admitted to robbing Key Bank on Market Street in Saugerties on January 11, 2013, and to robbing Chase Bank on Plattekill Avenue in New Paltz on April 2, 2013.
Lambert robbed both banks by displaying a note saying that he had a gun, according to an article in the Saugerties Times last year.
Lambert did not display weapons in either robbery, and no one was injured in either heist. Lambert pled guilty to two counts of robbery in the third degree, and faces a sentence of three to six years for each robbery.
Lambert was arrested at his Tannersville home in March after ripping off another bank in Herkimer in December 2013, according to the Daily Mail.
Saugerties and New Paltz police worked with Herkimer police to track down Lambert. But citizen tips helped crack the case in March, the Daily Mail reported:
“But the person who really did the great work on this was the public,” [Town of Saugerties Police Chief Joseph Sinagra] said, noting the leads provided by citizens led the investigation forward.
Sinagra said that clothing, which Lambert allegedly wore during the Herkimer robbery and ditched afterward, was found and left untouched until police arrived.
“It was DNA from the clothing that directly linked him to the Herkimer robbery,” said Sinagra.
Lambert will be sentenced on October 14 in Ulster County Court.
Read the full press release from Ulster County DA Holley Carnright:
DOUBLE BANK ROBBER PLEADS GUILTY IN ULSTER COUNTY COURT
A 49 year old Hunter resident pleaded guilty in Ulster County Court on Tuesday, September 9, to two bank robberies in New Paltz and Saugerties in January and April of 2013. Collin Lambert entered his guilty pleas to two counts of Robbery in the Third Degree before Judge Donald Williams, admitting that he robbed Chase Bank on Plattekill Avenue in New Paltz on April 2nd, 2013, and the Key Bank on Market Street in Saugerties on January 11, 2013. No weapon was displayed in either robbery, and no one was hurt.
Mr. Lambert informed Judge Williams that he was pleading guilty voluntarily, knowing the sentence he faces. Mr. Lambert is expected to receive a sentence of 3 – 6 years for each robbery and to serve those sentences back-to-back for a total of 6 – 12 years in State Prison, with an order of restitution.
In a prepared statement, DA Carnright said that these robberies were solved simply by the dogged determination of the New Paltz and Saugerties Police agencies in looking at, and into, every avenue that could lead them to the robber. About a year after the robberies they succeeded and were able to identify the perpetrator with the help and cooperation of other law enforcement officers from Herkimer County.
Lambert is expected to be sentenced on October 14 in Ulster County Court.
