A former Pittsburgh police officer was recently sentenced to 90 days of home detention and one year of probation after repeatedly lying to FBI agents investigating a bank robbery in Pennsylvania. The ex-cop protected the identity of the bank robber because he was cheating on his wife with the bank robber’s mother.
In January 2018, Brent Richards entered the Citizens Bank in Crafton while wearing a mask and brandishing a BB gun. Richards stole more than $10,000 from the bank while aiming the BB gun at two bank tellers.
After the robbery, Richards told former Pittsburgh police officer Antoine Cain that he had “hit” a bank, which Cain understood to mean that Richards had committed a bank robbery. At the time, Cain was cheating on his wife with Richards’ mother, Melissa Kane.
During two separate occasions in July 2018, federal agents investigating the bank robbery asked Cain if he knew the identity of the masked bank robber. Cain repeatedly denied knowing who had robbed the bank.
In September 2018, FBI agents asked Cain a third time if he knew the identity of the bank robber. Unbeknownst to Cain, Richards had already confessed to the agents that he told Cain about robbing the bank.
After the federal agents informed Cain that they had information that he did know the identity of the bank robber, the ex-cop finally admitted that he knew Richards was the robber. Cain initially lost his pension but has since appealed and won it back.
In March, Cain pleaded guilty to two counts of making false statements to government agents. In June, Richards pleaded guilty to armed bank robbery. His mother also pleaded guilty in federal court to helping her son cover up the crime.
Facing up to five years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000, Cain was sentenced Monday to one year of probation with 90 days of home detention for lying to federal investigators. During his sentencing, Cain apologized to his wife, his friends, the U.S. attorney’s office, and the FBI.
“I apologize to Agent [Glen] Galeone,” Cain stated. “I meant no disrespect to him or to the FBI.”
Richards and his mother are currently awaiting sentencing. Their sentences are not expected to be as lenient because they never served as cops.
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