Robber who left trial of evidence after holdup in Little Italy sentenced to 66 months & More News Here

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A financial institution robber who left a protracted path of evidence after he held up a monetary establishment in Little Italy in 2020 was sentenced Tuesday to an total sentence of 66 months on the Montreal courthouse.

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Quebec Court Judge Josée Bélanger factored in how Nikitos Keramarios, 57, had to cope with the spectre of COVID-19, whereas detained since December 2020. He went by means of a interval the place he was solely in a position to bathe twice a month and was not allowed outdoor, not even to stroll, throughout a six-month interval. The decide subtracted extra time than traditional whereas calculating time Keramarios already served in opposition to the general sentence.

As of Tuesday, Keramarios is left to serve a 41-month jail time period.

During sentencing arguments in March, prosecutor Philippe Vallières-Roland advisable an total eight-year sentence whereas defence lawyer Charles Montpetit urged a four-year sentence can be extra applicable. Keramarios testified and stated he’s a cocaine addict who wants assist.

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Since 2014, he has been in and out of federal penitentiaries after having pleaded responsible to 10 counts of armed theft in 4 completely different instances.

“As for the mitigating factors, they are few. The accused acknowledges to have caused harm to people,” Bélanger stated. “This statement is mitigated by the accused’s other statements that he is not that kind of person and his addiction is responsible for his behaviour.”

During the trial, Vallières-Roland in contrast the path of evidence Keramarios left to that of Petit Poucet, a fictional character from a seventeenth century French fairytale who left a path of pebbles to save his brothers from being deserted by their destitute mother and father.

The path left by Keramarios started when he employed a taxi at 1:45 p.m. on Dec. 15, 2020 to take him to the intersection of St-Laurent Blvd. and Mozart St. in Little Italy. Keramarios claimed he needed to meet his spouse and after they arrived he handed the cabbie $20 and advised him to wait.

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Keramarios then entered the Caisse populaire Canadienne Italienne on St-Laurent Blvd., approached a teller and demanded cash whereas claiming he had a firearm. The teller managed to slip a “robber’s bundle,” a ready assortment of marked payments, in among the many $5,900 she handed to him.

He returned to the ready cab whereas the supervisor of the monetary establishment adopted Keramarios from a distance. The supervisor was in a position to take pictures of the cab’s license plate.

During the trial, the cabbie testified that Keramarios uttered “vite, vite, vite” a number of instances and stored wanting behind him as he drove away.

Keramarios advised the cabbie to take him to the intersection of Jean-Talon and Parc Ave. When they arrived he handed the driving force a $100 invoice and stated he was overpaying in change for the cabbie’s silence. As Keramarios headed to his condo, the taxi driver assumed he had assaulted his spouse and referred to as 911.

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Less than half-hour later, Keramarios left his condo and walked to a close-by Bank of Montreal department the place he was a daily shopper. When he entered the financial institution he requested a safety guard if he would have to wait a very long time to make a deposit by means of a teller. The safety guard advisable an ATM and tried to assist Keramarios deposit what turned out be a wad of money an inch thick.

The guard then watched as Keramarios centered his consideration on one other individual who was ready to use the ATM. The guard testified that Keramarios turned erratic and argued with the opposite man. At one level, Keramarios pulled out a retractable knife and minimize his personal thumb, leaving traces of blood on the ground.

The commotion attracted the eye of staff contained in the financial institution who acknowledged Keramarios. One requested everybody ready in line outdoors to come inside and locked the doorways, leaving Keramarios outdoors in the ATM house, whereas the guard referred to as 911.

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Keramarios left earlier than the police arrived nevertheless it took them little time to join his behaviour on the ATM to the suspect they have been on the lookout for in the theft. A forensic skilled collected traces of Keramarios’s blood whereas the police requested a warrant to enter his condo on Querbes Ave.

He was arrested somewhat after 6 p.m. and a police officer requested Keramarios if he wanted any private belongings earlier than he was taken to a police operations centre. Among the gadgets the robber requested was $353 in money he had in his condo.

The money was positioned in a sealed envelope earlier than Keramarios was jailed. But, when an investigator was knowledgeable the robber in Little Italy had been handed marked payments she obtained a warrant to open the envelope. Inside she discovered three marked $10 payments that supplied one other hyperlink to the theft.

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