Man pleads guilty to unarmed robbery; sentenced to prison

SALEM – A Wakefield man who admitted stealing $2,000 from a Saugus bank last year to feed his heroin addiction was sentenced 2-to-3 years in state prison.Paul N. Faucher, 38, of 10 Colette Road, changed his plea to guilty Wednesday afternoon, confessing to a charge of unarmed robbery before Judge Howard J. Whitehead.Assistant District Attorney Michael J. Sheehan said he was prepared to establish at trial that on March 19, Faucher stole $2,000 from the Saugus Bank.The robbery occurred in the late afternoon when a man, later identified as Faucher, walked into the Saugus Bank at 412 Lynn Fells Parkway and handed a note to the teller demanding money.He fled the bank with the case in a Honda.No weapon was shown during the robbery, police said.Faucher was arrested by police the next day in Revere following an investigation and admitted to the bank robbery, Sheehan said.Sheehan was seeking up to five years in prison given the nature of the crime.Defense lawyer Julie Buszuwski felt 1-to-2 years in prison was appropriate, as she asked for leniency.She told Whitehead that the incident was the result of a serious heroin addiction Faucher has had over the last few years.The judge credited Faucher the 91 days he spent in jail awaiting trial on the case.Faucher also pleaded guilty earlier to robbing money from a Wakefield bank in Middlesex County.Whitehead said he took into consideration that the punishment he imposed is in concert with the three years of probation Faucher received for the Wakefield bank robbery, which will commence when he competes his prison term.