Man Admits Role In NJ Bank Robbery As Getaway Driver

CARNEYS POINT, NJ – A Philadelphia man admitted serving as the getaway driver for two men who robbed a bank at gunpoint in Carneys Point in 2018, authorities said.

Kenneth S. Thompson, 43, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Joseph H. Rodriguez in Camden federal court on Tuesday to an indictment charging him with bank robbery, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.

Thompson admitted that on July 30, 2018, he and Antwaine Thomas and Kareem Moore drove from Philadelphia to Salem County as part of an agreement that Thomas and Moore would rob the Fulton Bank in Carneys Point. Thompson agreed to help them flee with the stolen proceeds by serving as the getaway driver, federal officials said.

Thomas and Moore walked into the bank and demanded cash from numerous bank employees at gunpoint, took the cash and fled. Thompson admitted to driving past the bank several times in an effort to pick up Thomas and Moore, but was hindered by responding officers who arrived at the bank within minutes of the robbery.

Thompson then fled in the getaway car without his co-defendants, federal officials said.

The count of bank robbery is punishable by a maximum of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense, whichever is greatest.

Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 1, 2023.

Thomas and Moore previously pleaded guilty to armed bank robbery and brandishing a firearm during a bank robbery, and on May 11, 2021, Judge Rodriguez sentenced them to 272 and 168 months’ in prison, respectively.