A former Pittsburgh police officer pleaded guilty Tuesday to lying to FBI agents about not knowing a person suspected in a Crafton bank robbery in 2018.
Antoine Cain, 49, of Brookline pleaded guilty to two counts of making false statements to government agents. The 25-year police veteran faces a sentence of up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
In a Justice Department news release, FBI investigators said Cain knew the alleged bank robber, Brent Richards, through a romantic relationship with the robber’s mother, Melissa Kane. Investigators said Cain and Kane had been in an off-and-on relationship for seven years.
Court records show Richards, 33, is charged with armed robbery in connection to a January 2018 robbery at Citizens Bank in Crafton.
Kane, 47, is charged with covering up her son’s crime.
FBI detectives said they interviewed Cain twice in 2018, and he said he did not know Richards. When approached a third time by detectives, Cain admitted that he did.
“Cain further admitted that Brent Richards had told him he ‘hit’ a bank, which Cain understood to mean that Brent Richards had committed a bank robbery,” said the news release.
The release also pointed out that Kane told Cain that her son had robbed the Citizens Bank while wearing a mask and using a BB gun.
Cain’s sentencing is scheduled for July 2 in front of Senior U.S. District Judge Arthur J. Schwab.
