Salem bank robbers plead guilty to Saugus crime spree

SALEM – A Salem couple who stole thousands from two banks in Saugus and one in Lynnfield during a three-month crime spree have pleaded guilty.Daniel J. Buckley, Jr., 35, and Rachel K. Fulton, 28, who last lived at 7A Buffum St., in Salem, changed their pleas to guilty Tuesday afternoon in Salem Superior Court to masked armed robbery and a charge of armed robbery in connection with bank heists at the Eastern Bank branch in Saugus and the Eastern Bank in Lynnfield before Superior Court Judge David A. Lowy.Buckley will spend six to eight years in state prison before being placed on probation for another five years.Fulton also pleaded guilty to a third armed robbery in Saugus for the Dec. 21 bank heist at the Saugus Bank located at 321 Lynn Fells Parkway, where $3,408 was stolen.Lowy sentenced her to serve not less than two years and not more than seven years behind bars in state prison, which will be served at Framingham Prison for Women. When she gets out of prison she will be on probation for another five years.Buckley initially was also charged in connection with the Saugus Bank holdup, but the prosecutor dropped the indictment as part of negotiations.The sentence imposed on Fulton was less than the five-year state prison punishment Assistant District Attorney James P. Gubitose was looking for.Gubitose said the crime spree began on Dec. 8 when the couple walked into the Eastern Bank branch at 605 Broadway in Saugus around 4 p.m.Fulton was wearing large sunglasses and a wig while Buckley was wearing a wool hat pulled down almost over his eyes, large sunglasses and a scarf covering his mouth to disguises themselves.They each went to different tellers, passed a threatening note demanding money while indicating they had a weapon, but none was shown.Fulton left the bank first and Buckley followed shortly after.They made off with about $3,300.The holdup was captured on the bank surveillance camera.Then on Dec. 21 at about 7 p.m., they walked into the Saugus Bank on the Lynn Fells Parkway in Saugus, passed a note and fled with $3,408Lastly on Feb. 12, they stole $4,244 from the Eastern Bank branch on Salem Street in Lynnfield.Police acted on an anonymous tip before the final robbery occurred in which the couple bragged to friends about their previous holdups.Authorities learned that Buckley might be living at his parents? home on Nicholson Street in Lynn, but Buckley?s father later said his son had not been living at his home since August and that he was in Salem.Police set up surveillance at the Nicholson Street home, which the couple apparently frequented.A 1996 green Ford Explorer matching the described getaway car was spotted parked in the driveway about 40 minutes after the Lynnfield bank robbery.When the couple left in the Explorer, police stopped it at the intersection of O?Callaghan Way and Walnut Street.Police discovered the stolen money from the Lynnfield robbery including the “bail money,” on Buckley in his pants, Gubitose said.Under the terms of their probationary term, they will be evaluated for substance abuse with treatment and counseling as deemed necessary and will be subject to random screenings.The judge credited the couple the 324 days they have spent in jail awaiting trial on their case.Both have long criminal records. Fulton was reportedly charged with prostitution-related offenses in Marblehead and Chicopee in 2004 as well as several drug offenses over the past years.Buckley has a record involving violent crimes dating back to 1994.Buckley was represented by court-appointed attorney Amanda L. Barker and John T. Haggerty represented Fulton.An Essex County grand jury handed up the indictments against the couple in April.