Man Accused of Robbing Oaklyn Bank Detained: Feds

HADDON TOWNSHIP, NJ — A Pennsylvania man accused of robbing a TD Bank in Oaklyn finally made his first court appearance on Thursday, federal authorities announced.

Leon I. Stanford, 51, of Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, is charged by complaint with two counts of bank robbery. He is accused of robbing a Republic Bank in Cherry Hill and a TD Bank in Oaklyn within three days of each other.

He was arrested in February and made his first court appearance on Thursday by videoconference, according to U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito. He was detained without bail.

Surveillance footage showed Scranton entering the parking lot of the TD Bank on the 1100 block of White Horse Pike in Oaklyn shortly before noon on Feb. 22 in a white SUV before backing into a parking spot, the Camden County Prosecutor's Office previously said.

Detectives said he entered the bank and waited in line before passing a note to the teller demanding money. After getting $500, he fled the bank in the same SUV, according to authorities.

Pictures from the incident were released the same day. After that, multiple witnesses identified the man as Stanford. Through the investigation, detectives said they learned Stanford's white Saturn VUE matched the same vehicle captured on the surveillance footage.

Stanford is also accused of passing a similar note demanding money to an employee at Republic Bank in Cherry Hill on Feb. 24, according to authorities. He made off with $555 in that one, according to the criminal complaint.

Stanford was arrested by the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force — Camden Division on Feb. 25, according to authorities.

In 2010, he pleaded guilty to robbing a Citizens Bank and a Choice One Federal Credit Union over the course of three days in 2008, according to The Times Leader.

He served 10 years in prison, and he was out on supervised release when authorities say he committed the two robberies in Camden County.

Each bank robbery charge carries a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense. Stanford could face additional penalties for violating his term of supervised release.