http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/113-01302005-441096.html
http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/113-01302005-441096.html
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Neighbor: Teen robbery suspects were 'trouble' By PAUL RUPPEL The Intelligencer
One of three teenagers charged recently in a six-bank robbery spree last summer is considering a plea bargain with prosecutors.
Court records show that Corey R. Staley, 18, of Hatboro is out of jail but confined to his grandfather's apartment by electronic surveillance.
Dominic A. Truelove, 18, who shared a South New Street apartment in Hatboro with Staley before their arrests, was captured in early September speeding down I-95 in North Carolina on a motorcycle. He's still being held there but faces extradition soon.
Abdul Al-Tayeh, 18, of Upper Southampton remains at large.
Authorities caught up with all three after Staley used red-stained bills to pay for parts at a Hatboro motorcycle shop.
They're accused of robbing four banks of a combined $63,000 and attempting to rob two others, all with a pellet gun.
Banks were hit in Lansdale, Riegelsville, plus visits twice each to Horsham and North Brunswick, N.J., all between July 26 and Sept. 23 of last year.
If convicted, Truelove and Al-Tayeh face 150 years in prison and $1.5 million worth of fines. Staley, who the indictment alleges was only involved after the third bank, faces up to 100 years and a $1 million fine.
As court proceedings get under way, more details are emerging about the three teenagers.
The boys got around on motorcycles; Staley and Truelove came and went from their duplex on motorcycles often, said neighbors Chris and Lynn Gable.
"They had parties a lot, were in and out all hours of the night," said Chris Gable, whose son was friends with Al-Tayeh.
Lynn Gable added, "They were trouble. You could tell."
(They) reportedly told the landlord they were Jehovah's Witnesses before moving in.
Neighbors learned last fall of the boys' possible involvement in criminal activity when the FBI showed up and surrounded the duplex one Friday morning, they said. Authorities converged on the place after receiving a tip about the red-stained money and then finding acetone cans, receipts and money wrappers from other banks in the young men's trash.
After a while, agents knocked the door in, searched the apartment, pulled back and staked the place out until the next night.
But by 2003, he moved out of his mother's home and in with his grandfather in Hatboro. That summer, Nonemaker says Staley drove off with his grandfather's pickup truck to Florida without permission.
Staley dropped out of school, got a job and moved into the apartment with Truelove.
Staley has told family that his only involvement was taking $300 from one of the robberies to go buy motorcycle parts, according to Nonemaker.
After his arrest, Staley was released on bail to his mother's custody in Treichlers, Northampton County. But court records show he was permitted a change in residence when he and his mother were "having difficulty living together." She also had lost her lease on the home.
Staley and his grandfather wouldn't talk when reached by phone, aside from saying that prior published reports have been false.
"He acts like it's no big deal. I asked him, 'Are you going to go to a jail or what?' And he says he's going to a boot camp, and he's not that worried."
Like Staley, Al-Tayeh had some academic success, earning a spot on William Tennent High School honor rolls several times, as recently as this spring.
But he was in trouble with the law April 27 when he was charged with bringing a small amount of marijuana and paraphernalia to the Johnsville Alternative School. According to court records, he was seen handing a cigarette box that contained two baggies of the substance to another student.
Al-Tayeh failed to show for his Sept. 14 trial, and a bench warrant was issued. He later showed and posted 10 percent of $5,000 bail but didn't make his rescheduled trial Oct. 26.
By this time, Al-Tayeh had been interviewed by police once in relation to the bank robbery investigation, pinning the blame on Truelove and then fleeing.
The FBI has been to the family home on numerous occasions to conduct interviews. Al-Tayeh's parents declined to answer a reporter's questions this week outside their Spring Flower Court home.
Truelove's attorney, Louis R. Busico of Newtown, and Staley's public defender, Edson A. Bostic of Philadelphia, did not return phone calls seeking comment on their clients' cases. Court records say Al-Tayeh, who is still at large, has not retained an attorney.
Horsham police, who assisted on the investigation, said there was no immediately obvious motive for the robberies.
"There wasn't anything that we came across indicating exactly what they needed the money for," said Detective Dave Bussenger, though noting that some of it was spent on motorcycle parts.
Police say a reward may be in the offing for the cycle shop clerk who provided the all-important tip.
An FBI spokeswoman would not confirm or deny the report.