| Bank Robber Called
Persistent in 1998 Did It Yet
Again in 2026 Detained in 100
Centre St
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack
100
CENTRE ST,
April 2 – Sal Travella
was convicted of bank robbery
back in 1998 and was sentenced
to 133 months in Otisville by
U.S. District Court for the
Southern District of New York
Judge Jed S. Rakoff.
On
December 21, 2023 Travella was
brought into the SDNY
Magistrates Court. Inner City
Press was there, the only
media in the Mag Court, and
looked Travella up. He was
also involved in a 1991
robbery; the tabloids snarked
that he "may not be the city's
smartest bank robber, but he
certainly may be one of the
most persistent."
But he's
still around, still a
contender, albeit locked up
now on consent awaiting a
hearing before Judge Rakoff.
There more, much
more, on Substack here
On December 29
the US Attorney's Office wrote
in seeking two years for
a 2014 armed robbery - with an
imitation gun - at a jewelry
store inside of a casino in
Atlantic City. The Federal
Defenders wants six months in
a submission some of which
we'll leave unreported, except
for Compulsive Gambling
Disorder.
On January 9,
Judge Rakoff held the session,
and sentenced Travella to one
year in prison with no more
supervision. Inner City Press
was there and live tweeted,
thread here:
AUSA: He'll do it
again. Judge Rakoff: I don't
doubt it. But what does it
matter if it's in 6 months or
2 years? I trust he'd be
caught again.
Travellla: I had
$100 and a bus ticket when I
got out. Now I'm 61.
Judge Rakoff: I'm
80. I find your character
attractive
Travella: I
just wanna find a nice lady
and have some kids. If I had,
I would have had something to
lose.
Judge Rakoff: You
could have suffered so much
less. I sentence you to one
year in prison.
We wished him
well. Then one day, April 2,
2026 while covering APAR-1 in
100 Centre Street, a man we
recognized, barely, was led
in. It was for a bank robbery,
pretending to have a gun, the
same M.O. And the same result,
even in state court:
detention, unable at least for
now to come up with the
$20,000 bail. He could have
been a contender - and still
could be. Watch this site.
The Federal case
was US v. Travella, 99-cr-1055
(Rakoff)
***
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