Earlier today, at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, Gerald DeRosse was sentenced by United States District Judge William F. Kuntz II to 180 months in prison for committing a violent robbery of a Ridgewood Savings Bank in Queens, New York. He is also required to pay $205 in restitution and $205 in forfeiture. DeRosse pleaded guilty to the charge in May 2024.
Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York and James E. Dennehy, Assistant Director in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), New York Field Office, announced the sentence.
“The defendant, a serial bank robber, chose to terrorize hard-working bank tellers and customers, for his own selfish purposes. The victims, including an elderly woman the defendant locked in a chokehold, will never forget that day,” stated United States Attorney Peace. “It is a vital part of our mission to protect our community, and my Office will continue to tirelessly prosecute repeat offenders who show no respect for the law.”
“While on parole for a prior bank robbery, Gerald DeRosse once again terrorized our city by committing the same crime in which he utilized an innocent bystander as collateral to ensure his demands were met,” stated FBI Assistant Director in Charge Dennehy. “DeRosse's actions carelessly endangered the lives of others out of personal greed. The FBI will not tolerate repeat offenders who consistently threaten the safety of our city and its citizens.”
As described in the government’s sentencing memorandum and other court documents, on April 6, 2023, DeRosse entered a branch of Ridgewood Savings Bank on Myrtle Avenue in Glendale, Queens, grabbed an elderly bank customer around the neck, and yelled that he was going to “blow her f-----g brains out” if the bank teller did not give him money. Another customer hid under a desk during the robbery. A screenshot from the bank’s video surveillance system, showing this harrowing moment, appears below.
The bank teller obeyed DeRosse’s demand and gave him $205 in cash. DeRosse then fled, but he was identified and arrested by the FBI a few weeks later. DeRosse previously had been convicted of robbery-related crimes on at least seven occasions and was on parole, having served a 13-year sentence for bank robbery at the time he committed this bank robbery. He had been released from state prison less than a month earlier.
Assistant United States Attorney Rebecca M. Schuman is in charge of the prosecution.