Man Who Pulled Jobs in 'Black Face' Pleads Guilty

Disguise fooled wrong suspect's own mother
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 3, 2010 1:44 AM CST
White Robber Pulled Jobs in 'Black Face'
Conrad Zdzierak enters a courtroom in Cincinnati.   (AP Photo/The Cincinnati Enquirer, Gary Landers)

A white bank robber's disguise was so effective that a black man was arrested for his crimes, picked out of a line-up by several victims, and identified from surveillance footage by his own mother. The real crook, Polish immigrant Conrad Zdzeriek, has now pleaded guilty to a string of robberies in Ohio. He faces a sentence of up to 35 years and deportation, ABC News reports.

"I've represented people who've robbed banks before. I've represented people who've worn masks before. But I've never represented someone who wore a mask that was this nice, so to speak," the 30-year-old's lawyer says. "There is a guy who looks exactly like the mask." Zdzierak bought the "movie quality" African-American mask online for around $600. Click here for more.
(More Conrad Zdzierak stories.)

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