He was looking for a stiff drink, but got hard time instead.
A convict — one of a trio of armed robbers wearing Hollywood-quality masks during two heists — posed a bizarre question before getting sentenced on Friday.
“Do I get a last wish?” Akeem Montsalvatge, 38, asked a judge in Brooklyn Federal Court. “Do I get a last meal? Can I get a Patron Margarita.?”
Judge Raymond Dearie wasn’t mixing drinks from the bench. And the closest Montsalvatge was getting to a bar was the 32 years behind bars the judge served up.
The ringleader and accomplices Derrick Dunkley and Edward Byam, both 26, also get to spend the next three decades in prison. The robbers got the mandatory minimum terms for their crimes.
The sentencings brought to an end a bizarre case ripped straight from the script of the Ben Affleck-directed film “The Town.”
The perps, who are black, wore latex masks that made them appear white. True to the script, they also donned police raid jackets when they knocked over a Pay-O-Matic check-cashing store in Rosedale, Queens, on Valentine’s Day of 2012. They also poured bleach in the store to destroy DNA evidence, just like in the 2010 movie, and made off with $200,000.
They punctuated the crime by showing the victims photos of their homes to intimidate them. One of the victims was struck with a chair.
The crew robbed a cash-checking store in Springfield Gardens, Queens, two years earlier on Feb. 24, netting about $50,000.
“They instilled a degree of fear in the victims which they will never get over,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Tiana Demas.
Dearie acknowledged the crimes were vicious but also made it plain that he thought the sentences were excessive.
“I do my duty as uncomfortable and unpleasant as it is sometimes,” the judge said.
Prosecutors showed the robbers went on wild spending sprees with the illicit proceeds, buying designer clothing for themselves and girlfriends, vacations in Las Vegas and Beverly Hills and a $12,000 diamond-encrusted Rolex watch.
But their seemingly perfect crime blew up when they left behind a photo of a victim’s home which investigators traced to a Walgreen’s where a receipt showed the photo had been printed for Byam.
Byam ordered the $2,000 masks known as “Mac the Guy” from Louisiana-based Composite Effects whose credits include the films “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.”
The judge lamented how the stickup kings ruined their own lives.
“It’s a tragedy because each of you showed genuine potential,” Dearie said. “You had the benefit of youth which has now been squandered behind bars.”
All three maintained their innocence and Byam remained optimistic about his appeal.
“I hope to see you soon,” he told the judge.
