'Santa Clause' Headed To Prison For Tewksbury Bank Robbery.

LOWELL, MA -- "Santa Clause" is headed to prison.

Robert Costello, 27, of Manchester, N.H. was sentenced on Thursday in Lowell Superior Court to two years in state prison after pleading guilty to unarmed robbery.

Prosecutors explained that man walked into the TD Bank shortly before 2 p.m. on December. 19, 2016, and handed the teller a withdrawal slip.

The robber wrote on one side that it was a robbery and asked for small bills, no alarms and no trouble, and signed the other side, "Santa Clause,'' misspelling the name.

The robber took the cash but left the note behind.Police were able to take a latent fingerprint from the note. The fingerprint and the bank surveillance photos were a match for Costello.

Costello was located at his girlfriend's Tewksbury home.

He had $373 in cash in his wallet and was wearing the same jacket shown in the bank surveillance video.

Costello's girlfriend, who was not charged, told police she had traveled by taxi with Costello to get some items at 7-Eleven and Walgreens.

The girlfriend, who is unnamed, told police Costello left her and returned with hundreds of dollars in cash.

After his arrest, Costello, an admitted drug addict, told police he hadn't taken methadone for four days. When he woke the day of the robbery he was "dope sick'' and in need of money and drugs.

As his girlfriend did her shopping, Costello told police he saw the TD Bank and decided to rob it.

The couple then took a taxi to Methuen, where he bought drugs, then returned to Tewksbury.

Costello was given 137 days of jail credit for the time he has been locked up pending resolution of his case.

Courtesy photo of Robert Costello provided by the Tewksbury Police Department.