Philly Man Who Led 2018 Robbery Spree Gets 9 Years In Prison

Philadelphia PA

18 February, 2021

11:51 AM

Description

PHILADELPHIA — A Philadelphia man was sentenced to more than nine years in prison for robbing eight banks and businesses in Philadelphia in 2018. According to acting United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams, Gerald Griffith, also known as "Jerry Porecca," 47, of Philadelphia, was sentenced to nine years and two months in prison and three years of supervised release for a nearly six-month crime spree during which he robbed eight banks and businesses. In December 2019, Griffith pleaded guilty to two counts of bank robbery, two counts of armed bank robbery, and four counts of Hobbs Act robbery. The charges arose from a drug-fueled crime spree between July and December 2018, during which Griffith robbed or attempted to rob four separate banks, as well as four convenience or grocery stores, in Philadelphia. Griffith's series of robberies began on July 9, 2018, when he attempted to rob the BB&T Bank on Roosevelt Boulevard by threatening to blow up the bank, and then robbed the Firstrust Bank on Krewstown Road approximately 10 minutes later, again by verbal threat. In August, Griffith moved on to armed bank robbery, holding up the BB&T Bank on East York Street on Aug. 21, 2018, and then the BB&T Bank on Orthodox Street the very next day. During these last two bank robberies, Griffith brandished what the bank tellers described as a long, shiny silver handgun, threatening them not to press "any buttons" and demanding that they give him "hundreds." Additionally, Griffith robbed the ShopRite grocery store on Oxford Avenue earlier that summer, and between Dec. 5, 2018 and Dec. 8, 2018, he robbed the Wawa convenience store on Richmond Street, and attempted to rob the Sonoco-A-Plus gas station also on Richmond Street and the Dollar General store on Cedar Street.