Cop Bank Robber Sentenced

Cop bank robber sentenced to 78 months in prison
The New York Post by REBECCA ROSENBERG - November 13, 2009

Former NYPD cop Christian Torres was sentenced today in Manhattan federal court to 78 months in prison for armed bank robbery. Manhattan federal court Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered 12 of the 78 months to run consecutively to the 121-month sentence previously imposed on Torres for a separate armed bank robbery and a firearms offense in Pennsylvania. The feds claim that between June 2007 and April 2008, Torres and his ex-girlfriend, Christina Dasrath, a teller at the Sovereign Bank branch at 57 Avenue A, conspired to defraud the bank by staging a phony bank robbery. On June 8, 2007, Torres entered the bank and handed Dasrath at her teller station a note directing her to "empty both drawers" and threatening to "start shooting." Dasrath then gave Torres $16,305 from her teller drawer, a portion of which he later shared with her. Torres' lawyer, Paul Missan, said his client was "gratified by the judge's sentence and he wants to use it as an oppurtunity to do as much good as he can in prison to make up for the shameful act." Dasrath previously pleaded guilty to bank fraud, bank larceny and making false statements charges on Sept. 5, 2008 and was sentenced to 30 months behind bars. Additional reporting by John Doyle