Schenectady

A Syracuse man with a history of bank robberies was sentenced Thursday to 15 years to life in prison for a Schenectady heist.

David Butler, 51, had been charged with two counts of third-degree robbery and fourth-degree grand larceny for a robbery Aug. 26, 2015 at the Citizens Bank branch at 501 State St.

Acting Schenectady County Court Judge Frank Milano found Butler was a persistent felony offender based on his criminal history and imposed the discretionary sentence of life with a minimum of 15 years, rather than the maximum sentence of 3½ to 7 years Butler could have received as a person with a prior felony on his record.

When he pleaded guilty on April 21, Butler admitted he handed the teller a note stating "hundreds and fifties only, no dye packs, no alarms, do anything I say and everyone makes it home today." The teller handed him $1,900 and he left on foot.

Alerted to the robbery, District Attorney Investigator Rick Voris monitored the public surveillance camera system and was able to view images of a man leaving the bank area wearing the clothes described by the teller.

Voris then viewed another camera that captured images of the same man changing his clothing, tearing off his Velcro-snapped jeans, and placing all of his clothing and headwear into a shopping bag, revealing an orange shirt and white shorts underneath. Voris monitored the man's progress through downtown and provided police with his last location and direction of travel.

Butler was arrested at the Trailways Bus Station by police minutes before he was to board a bus back to Syracuse. Officers recovered the stolen cash. Butler was unarmed and faced a robbery charge classified as a non-violent crime.

The judge agreed with Assistant District Attorney Jessica Lorusso, the prosecutor in the case, that Butler's criminal record revealed a pattern of behavior that merited lifetime incarceration. He had prior felony convictions with four separate periods in state prisons for bank robberies, commercial burglaries and an assault of a correction officer.

The Schenectady bank robbery occurred less than four months after Butler's latest release on parole, District Attorney Robert Carney's office said.