SCRANTON - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced the filing of criminal charges against Fawzi Atra, 43, of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.   He is charged with robbing six banks, including the ESSA Bank & Trust, at 601 Route 940, Mount Pocono, on April 19, 2012.  The other banks are in eastern Pennsylvania and Western New Jersey.  All of the robberies happened in April, over a three-week period.

A police officer with the Pocono Mountain Regional Police Department arrested Atra shortly after the ESSA Bank & Trust robbery. An FBI special agent filed a criminal complaint charging Atra with that robbery and he has been detained in federal custody since his arrest.

If convicted, the maximum sentence for each of the offenses charged is 20 years imprisonment.