A white man who used a lifelike silicon mask so that he would look like a black man pleaded guilty to six robberies in Ohio in a plea deal with prosecutors this week. The silicon black-face mask looked so real, that a black man was wrongfully accused and arrested for the robberies.
In exchange for the plea deal, prosecutors will dismiss 12 charges and will not seek indictments for the other crimes. Conrad Zdzierak, 30, will face up to 35 years in prison when he’s sentenced for his crimes next month
Conrad apologizes to everyone, is sorry for any harm he has caused and accepts responsibility for his actions,’ his lawyer Christopher McDowell said. Zdzierak stole about $15,000 in the robberies of four banks, a credit union and a pharmacy that occurred in March and April – crimes in which witnesses reported that the robber was black and surveillance video appeared to show a black man. Zdzierak’s masked resemblance to the black man who was initially arrested was so similar that some witnesses even identified a photo of the black man as the one who robbed them, McDowell said. The prosecutor’s office would not release the name of the wrongly accused man.
Zdzierak was arrested at a hotel after his girlfriend called police after seeing reports of the robberies and finding two masks and money stained by dye that is used to track robbers, The Cincinnati Enquirer reported. McDowell said his client purchased the masks from SPFXmasks, based in Van Nuys, California. The silicone masks “look and behave like real flesh and muscle,” the company’s website says.
Owner Rusty Slusser said Tuesday his company’s masks are normally bought for movies, Halloween, haunted houses and stage shows, but the Ohio case was not the first time they have been used for criminal purposes. “We do not condone any illegal activity with our masks,” Slusser said.
Source: Daily Mail