Saugus bank robbers get 30 years to life

SALEM – Michael Ginnetti entered the adult criminal justice system a month after his 17th birthday when he was arraigned for armed and masked robbery using a gun, a prosecutor said Wednesday.Now Ginnetti, 40, and his accomplice, Gabriel Megna, 50, will spend at least 30 years and possibly the rest of their lives in state prison for a 2012 Saugus bank robbery and ensuing shootout in Malden that left a third alleged accomplice dead.”I hope the victims terrorized on March 23, 2012 can heal ? I hope the convictions of (the defendants) can help,” Salem Superior Court Judge David Lowy said before the sentencing.Ginnetti, 40, of Winthrop, was convicted Tuesday of two counts of armed and masked robbery; four counts of assault with a dangerous weapon; possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony; use of body armor in a felony; and carrying a dangerous weapon.Ginnetti also pleaded guilty to a firearm violation with three prior violent or drug offense(s).Gabriel Megna, 50, of East Boston, was convicted of two counts of armed and masked robbery, four counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and carrying a dangerous weapon.Both were found not guilty of receiving a stolen motor vehicle.Police responded to the Saugusbank at 412 Lynn Fells Parkway in Saugus late in the afternoon of Friday, March 23, 2012, where witnesses said two men, later identified as Ginnetti and William Ekasala, 35, of East Boston, robbed the bank at gunpoint and while wearing Halloween masks.Essex Assistant District Attorney Kim Faitella described the robbery as “mimicking a movie,” with “a level of violence that was completely unnecessary” as Ginnetti and Ekasala ordered several victims to the ground at gunpoint.The robbers fled the bank in a red Honda Civic driven by Megna, and police chased the car to the Cliffside Commons Apartment Complex in Malden. The suspects then all fled, with Megna and Ekasala allegedly carjacking a woman whose 5-month-old infant was in the backseat. The men were ordered out of the car, and Megna subsequently fled while Ekasala tried to carjack another two people. Police fatally shot Ekasala in an exchange of gunfire.Police found Ginnetti at a nearby apartment complex carrying a loaded semiautomatic handgun and a bag of cash. Megna was found hiding under the stairs at Cliffside Commons.An Essex Superior Court jury convicted Ginnetti and Megna on the charges after just over an hour of deliberations Tuesday. Sentencing was held at 11 a.m. Wednesday.A bank employee described in a victim-impact statement how “what was a safe and enjoyable place to work in (turned into) a crime scene.”The employee complained of rarely being able to sleep more than two hours a night and always needs to be in view of a door. The employee also told the court of colleagues who never returned to work and also suffer trauma from the event.”In days following the incident, I read a comment that you were ?stand-up guys,'” the employee told the defendants. “Stand-up guys would not terrorize people. The stand-up guy for me was the 17-year-old teller who found it in his eyes to be polite ? and even called you sir. The stand-up guys were the ones wearing uniforms and badges, not the ones wearing masks.”Faitella described Ginnetti and Megna as “the very definition of career criminals.” Megna was convicted of manslaughter in 1988 and, his attorney said, is currently serving a four-to-five year sentence for violating probation on a sentence for assault and battery and larceny. Four days before the robbery Ginnetti posted $15,000 cash bail on a charge of carrying a dangerous weapon, Faitella said.”There is no way to protect the public from these individuals but to incarcerate them for life,” Faitella told the court. She said that it “was a miracle” that no innocent bystanders or police were injured in the robbery, chase and ensuing shootout. She recommended a life sentence concurrent with 30 to 35 years in state pri