Guilty plea entered at hearing
Aformer assistant manager of a Hudson City Savings Bank branch in West Long Branch pleaded guilty on Aug. 15 to embezzling nearly $500,000, U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie announced.

Robert Libby, 33, of Howell, entered his plea in U.S. District Court in Trenton before Judge Freda L. Wolfson, who scheduled sentencing for Nov. 30. Libby is free on a $25,000 bond pending sentencing.

According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Libby pleaded guilty to a one-count information which charges that from December 2004 until March 2006 he embezzled $497,377 from Hudson City Savings Bank (HCSB).

At his plea hearing, Libby admitted that during the time period charged in the information, he withdrew approximately $497,377 from at least six bank accounts that belonged to five HCSB customers. Libby admitted that the majority of the unauthorized withdrawals were processed using his teller number. Libby admitted using the teller numbers of other HCSB tellers without their knowledge to make other unauthorized withdrawals.

The charge of embezzlement carries a maximum statutory penalty of 30 years in prison and a fine of $1 million.

In determining an actual sentence, Wolfson will consult the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, which provide appropriate sentencing ranges that take into account the severity and characteristics of the offense, the defendant's criminal history, if any, and other factors. The judge, however, is not bound by those guidelines in determining a sentence. Parole has been abolished in the federal system. Defendants who are given custodial terms must serve nearly all that time, according to the press release.