A man accused of robbing two banks shortly after he was freed under New York’s controversial new bail reform law has been detained by a federal judge as he awaits trial for robbing four banks in a nine-day crime spree.
Gerod Woodberry, 42, of Walterboro, S.C., appeared before the judge in Brooklyn Federal Court Sunday.
Prosecutors sought Woodberry’s detention as a danger to the community in a letter to the judge. They said his rap sheet shows five “strong-arm” robbery convictions in South Carolina.
“How is he here today?” Judge Steven Gold asked at Woodberry’s arraignment Sunday, according to the New York Post.
The judge pointed out that Woodberry’s most recent South Carolina robbery conviction was in 2018 and included a lengthy prison sentence, according to the paper.
Woodberry didn’t apply for bail and Gold told him he could apply for it Friday, according to the paper.
Woodberry was caught robbing a fourth Manhattan bank in nine days on Jan. 8, police said.
Two days later he was released under the newly enacted bail reform law that requires the release of persons accused of non-violent crimes without bail. Police said Woodberry robbed the banks without a weapon.
Just four hours after being sprung, police said he walked into a Brooklyn bank and handed a teller a note demanding money. The teller gave him about $1,000, police said.
Police said Woodberry also robbed another bank in Brooklyn on Jan. 14.
FBI agents arrested him Friday when he showed up in Manhattan Criminal Court and said, “I’m the one that’s been robbing banks,” the Post reported. last week.
Woodberry has been charged in federal court with the Jan. 10 bank job.
*story by Fox News