SCHENECTADY---A former prosecutor with the U.S. Department of Justice and Marine JAG attorney admitted that he had robbed a string of banks in order to support his heroin habit.

Andrew M. McKenna, 37, of Averill Park, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Albany Friday to robbing several banks in Vermont in October and November, 2005, netting about $5,000, and taking about $1,660 from the First Niagara Bank in Rensselaer County on Nov. 21, 2005.

McKenna also admitted robbing Price Chopper supermarkets in the Capital District region. He had been charged with the Nov. 6, 2005, robbery of the Price Chopper at 1640 Eastern Ave., Schenectady, when his proceeds totaled about $9,000.

McKenna has a decade of drug addiction. According to court records, McKenna has served in both the Air Force and the Marines. He graduated from Albany Law School in 1996 and served as a Marine Corps' judge advocate general. He became a special prosecutor with the Department of Justice in 2000 and in 2003, he was an attorney with an Albany law firm for nine months.

Court papers indicate that McKenna has admitted that he robbed the First Niagara Bank in Nassau on Nov. 21, 2005. He was arrested less than 20 minutes after the robbery by state police.

McKenna had also been indicted for robbing two Bennington, Vt., banks within one week's time in the fall of 2005, netting about $3,650 in one and $1,400 in the second robbery. He did not show a weapon in any of the robberies.

He has completed 16 months of drug treatment since his arrest. McKenna has been sent to the Albany County Jail until his sentencing on June 27 when he could receive from four to 10 years in prison.

McKenna claims that he first became addicted to painkillers after a 1998 car crash. According to District Court Judge Randolph Treece, the addiction eventually caused McKenna to experiment and become addicted to heroin. The judge said the former lawyer's problems intensified in 2004 when he started "binging on drugs, suffered from depression, exhibited suicidal ideation, lacked credible employment, and because of all these crises, had to be hospitalized".

McKenna's attorney said the crimes were committed during a relapse. 3-30-07

© 2007 North Country Gazette