Gerod Woodberry Arrested For Bank Robbery

Defendant Robbed Brooklyn Bank Hours After His Release For Prior Bank Robbery

A criminal complaint was unsealed today in federal court in Brooklyn charging Gerod Woodberry with the robbery of a Chase Bank in downtown Brooklyn on January 10, 2020.  Woodberry was arrested today, and will make his initial appearance at the United States Courthouse for the Eastern District of New York on Sunday morning.

Richard P. Donoghue, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, William F. Sweeney, Jr., Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), and Dermot F. Shea, Commissioner, New York City Police Department (NYPD), announced the arrest.  United States Attorney Donoghue issued a statement today noting some of the facts of the case.

As detailed in court filings, at approximately 5:35 p.m., Woodberry, wearing a baseball cap with a Chicago Bulls logo, entered a Chase Bank branch at 20 Flatbush Avenue and presented a hand-written note to a teller, stating in red ink, “THIS IS A ROBBERY BIG BILLS ONLY NO DYE PACKS.”  The teller handed Woodberry approximately $1,000 in U.S. currency, and the defendant fled the bank.  In a detention memorandum filed with the court today seeking a Permanent Order of Detention, prosecutors indicated that Woodberry robbed or attempted to rob six New York City banks in 16 days.  Those robberies and attempted robberies were committed on December 30, 2019, January 3, 2020, January 6, 2020, January 8, 2020, January 10, 2020 and January 14, 2020.  The memorandum further noted that Woodberry was arrested by the NYPD hours after the January 8, 2020 robbery, but that he was released on January 10, 2020 because the crime charged did not qualify for pre-trial detention under New York State law.  The memorandum also reported that the January 10, 2020 robbery in Brooklyn was committed less than four hours after his release on the January 8, 2020 arrest.

The charge in the complaint is an allegation, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.  If convicted, Woodberry faces up to 20 years in federal prison.

The government’s case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jack Dennehy, Senior Litigation Counsel and Director of the Rapid Approach to Strategic Prosecutions in the Office’s Criminal Division.

The Defendant:

GEROD WOODBERRY

Age:  42

Walterboro, South Carolina

E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 20-MJ-52