Pittsburgh woman who robbed 3 PNC branches pleads guilty
A woman pleaded guilty in federal court on Tuesday to committing three bank robberies with another woman who used to work for PNC Bank.
Donna Poremski, 44, and formerly of Pittsburgh, pleaded to conspiracy, bank robbery and armed bank robbery before U.S. District Judge Nora Barry Fischer. She will be sentenced on Aug. 24.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Poremski and another woman, Jasmine Parrish, robbed banks in West Mifflin, McCandless and Penn Hills. Parrish had previously worked at a PNC branch in the Pittsburgh neighborhood of Bloomfield.
They met while working together in the home health care industry.
During the first robbery, on June 23, 2018, prosecutors said the women entered a PNC branch in West Mifflin wearing hijabs, in an attempt to hide their faces.
During that instance, prosecutors said, Parrish also carried a cane and wore a surgical mask over her face with a tube connected to an oxygen tank.
The women approached a teller and passed over a note that alleged they had a bomb, and demanded money.
Poremski, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said, also appeared to be brandishing a firearm.
The women demanded the employees empty their cash drawers and enter the vault, forcing them to put money into a suitcase.
They got more than $61,000, according to the indictment filed against them.
The second robbery was at a PNC Bank on McKnight Road in McCandless on Sept. 6, 2018.
In that one, prosecutors said the women entered the bank wearing disguises to scope it out first. Then, Poremski, again dressed in a disguise, entered brandishing what appeared to be a handgun, demanding money from a teller’s cash drawer, as well as the vault.
Investigators said that Parrish was seen driving Poremski’s vehicle near the bank while the robbery was occurring.
They got $35,500 in that incident, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
In the Oct. 18, 2018, robbery, Poremski, wearing a disguise, entered a PNC branch on Rodi Road in Penn Hills and threatened the tellers with a firearm — though she never brandished one. There they got $350.
Parrish pleaded guilty to five counts in February 2020. During her plea, she also admitted that, on Nov. 21, 2018, she drove a juvenile to Bloomfield and wrote a demand note for the juvenile to rob the PNC branch on Liberty Avenue where she previously worked.
The juvenile, however, left the bank before receiving any money.
Parrish is scheduled for sentencing on July 8.
Paula Reed Ward is a TribLive reporter covering federal and Allegheny County courts. She joined the Trib in 2020 after spending nearly 17 years at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, where she was part of a Pulitzer Prize-winning team. She is the author of “Death by Cyanide.” She can be reached at pward@triblive.com.
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