A
white man who pleaded guilty to six robberies in Ohio used a black mask
so lifelike that police initially arrested a black man for one of the
crimes.
The mother of the wrongly accused man even thought a photo of the robbery suspect she saw on television was a photo of her son.
Conrad
Zdzierak, 30, pleaded guilty Monday in Hamilton County Ohio to one
count of aggravated robbery and five counts of robbery in a plea deal
with prosecutors.He faces up to 35 years in prison at his January 7
sentencing. In exchange, prosecutors dismissed 12 charges and
decided not to seek indictments for other crimes, prosecutor spokeswoman
Julie Wilson said.
'Conrad apologises to everyone, is sorry for
any harm he has caused and accepts responsibility for his actions,' his
lawyer Christopher McDowell said.
Zdzierak stole about $15,000 in
the robberies of four banks, a credit union and a pharmacy that
occurred in
March and April - crimes in which witnesses reported that
the robber was black and surveillance video appeared to show a black
man.
Zdzierak's masked resemblance to the black man who was
initially arrested was so similar that some witnesses even identified a
photo of the black man as the one who robbed them, McDowell said.
The prosecutor's office would not release the name of the wrongly accused man.
Zdzierak
was arrested at a hotel after his girlfriend called police after seeing
reports of the robberies and finding two masks and money stained by dye
that is used to track robbers, The Cincinnati Enquirer reported.
McDowell
said his client purchased the masks from SPFXmasks, based in Van Nuys,
California. The silicone masks 'look and behave like real flesh and
muscle,' the company's website says.
Owner Rusty Slusser said
Tuesday his company's masks are normally bought for movies, Halloween,
haunted houses and stage shows, but the Ohio case was not the first time
they have been used for criminal purposes.
'We do not condone any illegal activity with our masks,' Slusser said.