Judge tears into parolee bank robber who choked 81-year-old woman during $205 NYC heist

A federal judge on Tuesday threw the book at a serial bank robber who was already on parole when he choked and threatened to kill an 81-year-old woman during an “alarming” Queens heist.Gerald DeRosse, 55, was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for the April 6, 2023 robbery at Ridgewood Savings Bank in Glendale, during which he terrorized the elderly victim and threatened to “blow her f—ing brains out” if the teller didn’t fork over the cash.

DeRosse made off with just $205, federal prosecutors said in a release.“This case impacts your community,” US District Judge William Kuntz told the career thief.

“This case impacts your family.But ultimately it impacts you.” In court, DeRosse wore a beige jumpsuit, glasses and had hair slicked back — and appeared in good spirits until he was hit with the sentence and berated for his life of crime.

He has 10 prior convictions, among them four robbery raps that records show landed him in state prison at least twice — including a 13-year state prison stint on a 2011 felony robbery charge.The career criminal was last paroled from the upstate Wyoming Correctional Facility on March 9, 2023.Less than a month later, he stormed into the Queens bank and “chose to terrorize hard-working bank tellers and customers,” US Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement.

“The victims, including an elderly woman the defendant locked in a chokehold, will never forget that day,” Peace said.“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.”Assistant US Attorney Rebecca Schuman said in court Tuesday that DeRosse “terrified every person in the bank purposely,” not just the elderly woman.

“It’s his MO.He has a long pattern of committing crimes,” Schuman said.

“He was on release from a decade-plus long sentence.We are talking about someone who regularly committed crimes every time he is r...