Pair plead guilty to Peabody bank robbery

SALEM – A couple have admitted stealing more than $5,000 from a downtown Peabody bank last fall to support their addictions.Joseph Hickson, a 27-year-old construction worker who last lived at 34 Temple St., West Roxbury, and Jennifer Maxwell, a 26-year-old legal secretary, of 8 Scott Circle, Dedham, pleaded guilty each to stealing and confining and putting in fear and larceny of property worth more than $250.Hickson was sentenced to serve four years in state prison to be followed by three years of probation by Salem Superior Court Judge Howard J. Whitehead.Maxwell was placed on five years of probation.The charges arise out of an incident on Oct. 11 when a man, later identified as Hickson, wearing dark shorts and an Addidas hat, walked into the TD Banknorth, located at 10 Main St. in downtown Peabody, and handed a note to the female teller that said, “Give me all your $100s, $50s and $20s. No dye pack and no one gets hurt.”The teller, in fear of her life, turned over all the cash in her draw, approximately $5,100 in cash, and Hickson fled the bank along with the note to a vehicle parked outside in which Maxwell was in.A third alleged participant, Scott Sharek, 24, also of West Roxbury, was the man behind the wheel, police say.While on probation, Hickson and Maxwell were ordered to be evaluated for substance abuse counseling and treatment as necessary, ordered to refrain from all alcohol and narcotics, consent to random screenings, be employed or have five job applications on file and were ordered to stay away from all TD Banknorth branches.As part of the negotiations, their punishment will run simultaneously with punishment they are currently serving on similar crimes out of Norfolk and Suffolk counties.