In a case of déjà vu, a man finds himself sentenced to prison, yet again, for committing a series of bank robberies in Camden County, including one in Cherry Hill. This man, identified as Leon I. Stanford, had already served time in prison for a string of bank heists in Pennsylvania before reoffending.
The 2020 robberies occurred in swift succession. On February 22, 2020, Stanford entered TD Bank in Oaklyn, presenting a note to the teller, which declared a robbery and demanded cash. Just two days later, he replicated the same method at Republic Bank in Cherry Hill, and both times, the bank tellers complied with his demands.
As a consequence of these actions, Stanford, aged 54 and hailing from Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to a term of 12 years and 7 months in prison for the 2020 bank robberies. In addition to his prison sentence, he is obligated to undergo three years of supervised release.
Witnesses observed Stanford leaving both banks in a white SUV, and law enforcement, through surveillance videos in the vicinity of each bank, was able to ascertain a portion of the vehicle’s license plate number. This discovery led them to Stanford’s SUV. Subsequently, he was identified in bank surveillance footage.
Stanford had pleaded guilty to the robberies in March, and he faced a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison for each incident.
Significantly, during the commission of these offenses, Stanford was on federal supervised release as a result of prior convictions for bank robbery. In 2008, he had robbed two financial institutions in Wilkes Barre, Citizens Bank and Choice One Federal Credit Union, within a span of just three days. For these crimes, he had been sentenced to a ten-year prison term, eventually commencing his period of federal release in August 2018.
Stanford’s recidivism underscores the need for effective rehabilitation and support mechanisms to prevent individuals from returning to a life of crime upon their release.
