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Gibsonton man pleads guilty to role in robberies

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By ELAINE SILVESTRINI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 8, 2009

JASON ROSENBERGER

LUKE DEBI

TAMPA - A 25-year-old Gibsonton man has pleaded guilty to conspiring to rob four banks and credit unions in Hillsborough County.

Jason Andrew Rosenberger faces up to five years in prison after his guilty plea on Monday. Co-defendant, Luke Mark Debi, 26, of Gibsonton, plans to plead guilty and is scheduled for a hearing on July 20, according to court documents.

According to an indictment, the pair scouted banks and credit unions to become familiar with the premises and their security measures. Wearing baseball caps and glasses to hide their identities, they gave tellers notes demanding money.

• On April 9, Rosenberger stole $1,205 from the Colonial Bank at 6530 U.S. 41 N. He handed the teller a note stating, "Hand over your money please," according to his plea agreement. The note was in a plastic baggy, and Rosenberger stuffed it in his pocket after the teller read it.

• On April 13, Rosenberger stole $4,013 from the Suncoast Schools Federal Credit Union at 9598 U.S. 301 S. and was driven away in a Saturn. This time, the note said something to the effect, "Give me all your cash. Give it all. Hurry up. I want it all." Investigators later found Rosenberger's fingerprint on the counter. The next day, Debi traded in a 1993 Saturn at a used-car lot for a 1996 teal Chevrolet Cavalier, according to the indictment.

• On April 16, Rosenberger's plea agreement states, Rosenberger and Debi drove to the SunTrust Bank at 11721 Boyette Road, where Debi presented a demand note. The teller had trouble reading the note, and Debi told her, "Give me all the money in your drawer." Trying to delay Debi, the teller told him he would have to fill out a withdrawal slip and handed him one. Nervous and frustrated, Debi quickly walked out of the bank. He was driven away in a 1996 Cavalier.

• The next day, the indictment says, the two drove the car to the Fifth Third Bank at 13301 U.S. 301, where Rosenberger presented a demand note. Rosenberger also told the teller, "I need to make a withdrawal. Give me all your money out of the top drawer." The teller tried to delay Rosenberger by telling him she didn't have the keys to the drawer. Rosenberger got nervous and ran away. Debi drove him away in the Cavalier.

After the robbery, police pulled over the Cavalier. In the car, they found a baseball hat that witnesses described Rosenberger as wearing during two of the robberies and another hat that witnesses described at a third robbery. Police also found a demand note in a plastic bag.

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