MMA Fighters Faces Sentencing for Bank Robbery

MMA fighter Sergio Da Silva leaves court during his bank robbery trial. He was convicted of third-degree robbery. Pool photo by Ellis Kaplan.

By David Brand

Mixed Martial Artist Sergio DaSilva was found guilty of third-degree robbery by a Queens Supreme Court jury last month and returns to Justice Leslie Leach’s courtroom for sentencing today.

The jury deliberated for 23 hours over four days in January before determining that DaSilva, who fought professionally in the Bellator promotion and goes by the nickname “The Savage,” climbed over a glass partition and stole nearly $45,000 from a Citibank a block from his Astoria apartment in August 2017.

DaSilva was found not guilty of first-degree robbery, a charge that hinged on whether he used a gun or other weapon and carried a possible 25-year sentence.

Surveillance video from the bank showed a masked man with a height and build similar to DaSilva climbing over the 7-foot-high partition, grabbing cash, scrambling back over the wall and exiting the Citibank on Steinway Street. The entire theft lasted 1 minutes 19 seconds.

Detectives lifted fingerprints matching DaSilva’s from near the top of the glass, according to trial testimony.