Chester County Man Pleads Guilty to Stealing Valuable Coins From Bank Safe Deposit Box

PHILADELPHIA - United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Richard DiStefano, 65, of Paoli, Pennsylvania, entered a plea of guilty today before United States District Judge Timothy J. Savage on one count of bank larceny.

DiStefano was charged by information with that offense earlier this month, arising from his theft of coins from the bank where the owning organization was keeping them.

As detailed in court filings and admitted to by the defendant, starting in July of 2017 and going through February 25, 2021, the defendant stole precious coins that were being stored in a safety deposit box at a Wells Fargo branch on the 100 block of South Broad Street.

In June of 2024, the FBI was notified that this theft had occurred. Subsequently, the FBI was able to obtain records showing that the defendant was the last person to have access to the safety deposit box.

In September of 2024, the FBI executed a search warrant at the defendant's address. During the execution of the search warrant, the defendant admitted to stealing the coins. The investigation showed that, over the course of years, the defendant had removed the coins from the safety deposit box and sold the coins at various auction houses. The coins' appraised value was just over $1.6 million.

The defendant is scheduled to be sentenced on January 13, 2026, and faces a maximum possible term of 10 years' imprisonment, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.

The case was investigated by the FBI and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jason Grenell.