ALBANY – The calendars in Albany County Court may have read Dec. 31, 2019, but the court was operating under 2020 rules.

In keeping with many local courts’ practices of treating defendants under the state’s new bail reform laws, two felony defendants were released on their own recognizance after brief hearings on Tuesday, including a man accused of robbing a bank for the fourth time in the past 15 years.

There was little to no discussion on either matter before Judge William Carter, with the assistant district attorney only telling Carter that their office recognized that the defendants both qualified for presumptive release under the new bail laws.

Both defendants were represented by the Albany County Public Defender’s office. Albany County District Attorney David Soares' office had said in the past that it would begin operating under the new bail reform rules ahead of their official implementation.

In the first matter, Christopher Seamans, 41, was released after being arraigned the previous evening in Colonie on charges of robbery in the third degree and grand larceny.

Seamans, of East Syracuse, allegedly robbed the Pioneer Bank on Central Avenue on Dec. 27, making off with an undisclosed amount of money. Police said Seamans walked up to a teller demanding cash. While there was no weapon observed, he kept a hand inside his jacket. Police said bank surveillance photos and online tips led them to Seamans.

He was arrested outside his home the next day while on his way to a Syracuse University basketball game, according to Syracuse.com.

Seamans was previously convicted of bank robberies in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York.

In 2005 he was sentenced to four years in prison for the robberies in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. In 2011 he was sentenced to nearly five years for robbing a third bank in 2010. He was released from federal prison on Dec. 17, 2017.

The Colonie police department issued a wry statement on the matter "in light of the interest in the new bail/discovery reform for 2020."

After relating the alleged crime and Seamans' record, the statement concluded, "Happy New Year everyone! Especially happy for our most recent bank robber."

In the other matter, one of two Schenectady men charged with felony drug possession was released pending a future court date.

State Police said they stopped a car shortly before 11 p.m. on Dec. 28 on Interstate 87 in Albany for a traffic violation.

Police said when they searched the car, they found 122 grams of crack cocaine. The driver, Aaron J. Sylvester, 30, and passenger Andre K. Hawkins, 33, both of Schenectady, were charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance and criminal possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell.

Both men had been held in Albany County jail without bail after arraignment in Bethlehem Town Court but that changed on Tuesday. Sylvester was released while Hawkins, who violated his parole, was taken to Albany County jail. Previously, Hawkins had been released to parole in July after serving two years and a half years in state prison for criminal sale and possession of a controlled substance.