Buy milk . . . do laundry . . . commit a felony.
One New York bank robbery suspect was so well organized that cops found a to-do list with the words “rob bank” written on it in the crook’s Manhattan apartment after his arrest, sources said.
Fastidious felon Kevin Patrick Smith, a Westies gang associate who once did 10 years for bank robbery, was busted yesterday outside his Upper East Side building as he headed out to rob a bank in New Paltz, the feds said.
The cash-strapped ex-con needed money to pay his legal bills and other debts, the FBI said.
Smith allegedly hired an unwitting livery cabby to drive him nearly 80 miles to the Ulster County town, where he planned to hit a Wells Fargo bank yesterday.
The conscientious con should have spent more time vetting his cronies than drawing up lists. Thanks to his accomplice — an FBI informant — Smith was arrested by an FBI SWAT team as he left his apartment at 8 a.m..
The unidentified livery driver, who was waiting nearby, was questioned and released without charges.
Midtown-based GroundLink Car and Limo Service said the round trip to New Paltz would have cost $530, including tip.
According to court papers, Smith, 56, was planning to pick up the accomplice and a .44 Magnum handgun he had stashed in a Bronx storage facility before heading north to knock over the bank.
The accomplice secretly recorded Smith for the FBI as they plotted the heist, the Manhattan federal court complaint says.
Smith allegedly approached the unidentified snitch on Wednesday and recruited him for the holdup, saying he had a driver who would take them to the bank.
During a follow-up meeting the next day, Smith drew a map of the area and said he would bring the gun, as well as gloves, a ski mask and a bag for the loot, which the accomplice agreed to help him load in the trunk, according to the complaint.
“Smith explained that he needed cash to pay off debts, including money owed to his lawyer, credit cards and rent,” FBI Agent Michael Powers wrote in the complaint.
When Smith was nabbed, he was y carrying a bag that was “partially hidden by a heavy winter coat,” and which contained a black T-shirt, three pairs of gloves and a key, the complain.
He was charged with one count of attempted bank robbery, which carries up to 25 years in prison.
The Westies were a feared Irish-American gang that ran violent extortion and loan-sharking rackets out of Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen before being broken up with the help of turncoat member Francis “Mickey” Featherstone in the late 1980s.
Last year, The Post revealed the gang was back in business under the leadership of John Bokun.
Additional reporting by Rebecca Harshbarger and Amber Sutherland