Town of New Hartford NEW YORK

TOWN of NEW HARTFORD

ONEIDA COUNTY

NEW HARTFORD POLICE DEPARTMENT

32 KELLOGG ROAD, NEW HARTFORD, NEW YORK 13413-2850

 Telephone: 1-315-733-6666

Fax: 1-315-724-8618

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July 20, 2009

Three Members of Interstate Jewelry Store Robbery Ring

Indicted on Federal Robbery and Murder Charges

A federal indictment unsealed today charges three members of a Philadelphia-based jewelry store robbery ring with conspiracy, robbery and the February 27, 2006 murder of New Hartford, NY Police Officer Joseph Corr. MARION PEGESE, a/k/a Dump, 36; ROBERT WARD, a/k/a RB, 31; and TOUSSAINT DAVIS, a/k/a John Healy, 41 were accused of conspiring to obstruct interstate commerce by means of armed robberies, including the August 26, 2005 heist at the Bailey Jewelry Store in Freehold, NY and the February 27, 2006 robbery of Lennon’s – W.B. Wilcox jewelers in New Hartford, NY. They are also charged substantively with the 2006 robbery on the jewelry store in New Hartford and the murder of Officer Corr in the course of the commission of that felony and the related conspiracy. During the charged “take-over style” heists, employees of the jewelry stores were threatened at gunpoint and restrained. The robbers stole jewelry and Rolex watches from the two stores with a total retail value in excess of $2 million.

United States Attorney Andrew T. Baxter, Oneida County District Attorney Scott McNamara and New Hartford Police Chief Raymond Philo announce the indictment, which resulted from the parallel federal and state investigations of the interstate robbery ring. Walter Richardson, who shot and killed Officer Corr, as Richardson escaped following the robbery of the of the New hartford jewelry store, opened fire on federal Marshals while resisting arrest in Chester, PA on February 28, 2006 and was killed by return fire. U.S. Attorney Baxter stated: “After consultation with District Attorney McNamara and the family of Officer Corr, we concluded that a federal prosecution of the three other individuals allegedly involved in the New Hartford robbery and the resulting homicide was necessary and appropriate to secure justice for Officer Corr and the other victims of the heist.”

PEGESE, WARD and DAVIS face a maximum sentence of 20 years incarceration and a $250,000 fine in connection with the conspiracy and robbery charges in the Indictment, and a maximum sentence of life imprisonment for the murder count. The charges are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

The case was investigated by the New Hartford Police Department; the Oneida County Sheriff’s Department; the Town of Kirkland, NY Police Department; the Utica, NY Police Department; the New York State Police; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives – Syracuse Office; the Federal Bureau of Investigation – Syracuse Resident Agency and Philadelphia Field Office; the U.S. Marshal’s Service; and the Monmouth County (NJ) Prosecutor’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard R. Southwick and Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney John G. Duncan are handling the federal prosecution.

New Hartford Police Chief Raymond Philo stated hundreds of local, state and federal law enforcement officers participated in the investigation over the last three and a half years. “Without a doubt this is the largest and most complicated criminal investigation in the history of Oneida County” Philo Indicated.

A Federal Grand Jury was convened a few months after the Lennon’s – W.B. Wilcox robbery, and the subsequent murder of Officer Corr. Investigators have used the Federal Grand Jury as an investigative tool while there has been a parallel state grand jury investigation.

WARD, PEGESE and DAVIS will be tried for a Jewelry store robbery in Freehold, N.J. at the same time they are tried for the murder of Officer Corr, Philo stated.

View the actual 9-page Federal Indictment

Contact New Hartford Police at 315-724-7111 with inquiries.        

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