2 to 6 years for man who robbed bank in Kingston
The man who robbed the Key Bank branch on Wall Street in Uptown Kingston five months ago was sentenced Tuesday to two to six years in state prison, according to the Ulster County District Attorney’s Office.
Ryan J. O’Connor, of Hannacroix in Greene County, was sentenced in Ulster County Court by Judge Donald A. Williams. O’Connor pleaded guilty to felony robbery on April 11.
O’Connor robbed the bank at 276 Wall St. shortly after 4:30 p.m. on Jan. 18. Police said at the time that no weapon was shown, no one was injured, and there were no customers in the bank.
O’Connor was arrested about 5 p.m. the same day on the Thruway Exit 19 roundabout in the town of Ulster, just outside the city, following a car chase.
Police said after the arrest that O’Connor did not resist when he was taken into custody and that the money stolen in the robbery was recovered.
The District Attorney’s Office said O’Connor apologized in court on Tuesday and said he wished he had done more to address his drug addiction before it got out of control.
He added, though, that he was not blaming his addiction for his actions because there are many drug addicts who don’t rob banks, the prosecutor’s office said.
The robbery was one of a series of bank heists alleged to have been committed by O’Connor in Albany, Rensselaer and Ulster counties over a period of several weeks last winter.
The robbery also was the fifth at the Uptown Kingston Key Bank branch in a span of eight years. The others were on March 27, 2009, March 31, 2009, Jan. 10, 2011, and July 24, 2017.