Rookie Cop Robbed Banks To Fund Dream Of Becoming Cop

Former rookie NYC transit officer Christian Torres has pleaded guilty to twice robbing a Sovereign branch on the Lower East Side in 2007. The robberies netted $116,000 and were almost completely successful, thanks in part to his 20-year-old girlfriend Christina Dasrath, who worked as a teller at the bank. (She still claims Torres tricked her into helping him, and describes him as her first love.) Torres, 23, only got busted for those jobs when cops pulled him over after robbing $113,000 from a Sovereign branch in Pennsylvania last April. Dasrath is currently serving a two and a half year sentence, and Torres is doing a ten year bid in the Keystone State. While pleading guilty yesterday, Torres blamed the crime spree on the low salaries allotted rookie cops.

At the time of the robberies, rookie pay for NYPD officers was $25,100; it's since been increased almost 10 percent. Torres told the judge, "I knew it was wrong. I knew it was illegal. I agreed because my dream of entering the academy [wouldn't have happened]. I couldn't afford my rent. I couldn't pay my bills."

According to the AP, Torres could get more than eight years in prison for the NYC holdups when he's sentenced in November; the Post reports that he could face up to 60 years behind bars.