Convicted PA Bank Robber Gets 12 Years For Robbing 2 NJ Banks in 2020

A Pennsylvania man who spent ten years in prison for robbing banks will be spending twelve more years behind bars for robbing two banks in New Jersey.

On Thursday, 54-year-old Leon I. Stanford of Wilkes-Barre, PA, who had pleaded guilty to two counts of bank robbery, was sentenced to 151 months, or about 12 1/2 years.

Federal authorities say on February 22, 2020, Stanford entered the TD Bank in Oaklyn, Camden County, and handed a teller a note which announced a robbery and demanded cash. The bank teller complied and witnesses saw him depart in a white SUV.

Two days later, Stanford entered the Republic Bank branch in Cherry Hill, he handed the bank teller a note which announced a robbery, and demanded cash. The bank teller complied and witnesses, again, saw Stanford leave the area in a white SUV.

Law enforcement officers were able to obtain a partial license plate number for that SUV, which led them to identify Stanford as the person in bank surveillance videos.

Repeat offender

At the time of the two Camden County bank robberies, Stanford was on federal supervised release as a result of prior bank robbery convictions for which he served a 10-year prison sentence.

In addition to this most recent prison term, Stanford was also sentenced to another three years of supervised release.

U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger thanked special agents of the FBI, the New York/New Jersey U.S. Marshals Regional Task Force Camden Division, the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office, and the Cherry Hill and Oaklyn Police Departments for their work in this case.