Five-year sentence for Schenectady bank robber

PHOTOGRAPHER: Steven Cook

The city man who admitted to trying to rob a bank in Bellevue earlier this year was sentenced Friday to five years in prison.

The sentencing came with a standard admonition from the judge that with the suspect’s criminal history, he could potentially face up to life in prison if he is convicted again of a similar felony.

Dwayne D. Mallory, 33, formerly of Summit Avenue, pleaded guilty in August to one count of second-degree attempted robbery. He was accused of robbing the Key Bank on Broadway on March 7, demanding cash from a teller and threatening to shoot her in the face if she did not comply.

Mallory, represented by attorney Sven Paul, was sentenced with a previous felony noted. He served three years in prison for a 1997 drug conviction in Dutchess County, records show. Then, in 2005, he was sentenced to up to three years on a drug conviction in Rensselaer County.

Acting Schenectady County Court Judge Richard Giardino informed Mallory that he faces a possible sentence of up to life in prison if he is convicted of another similar felony in the future and deemed a persistent felon.

Mallory indicated that he understood.

In the March bank robbery, Mallory was accused of handing over the note and then motioning to his pants, making the teller believe he had a gun. No gun was found on him when he was arrested a short time later.

Mallory also faced grand larceny and evidence tampering charges. The evidence-tampering charge related to the unusual place he was accused of stashing the cash: His rectum.

Police caught up with Mallory inside a restaurant near the bank, but the cash was nowhere to be found.

He was arrested, arraigned and sent to the Schenectady County Jail with no bail set. At some point, he made a phone call from jail that apparently was monitored by authorities. Papers previously filed in court indicated that he told the person that he had “boofed” the money from the bank. The slang reference to his lowermost orifice led to police seeking and obtaining a warrant for a body cavity search. That uncovered nothing, but officers soon discovered the money under a sheet in a jail exam area. In all, $1,320 was recovered.

Mallory also was charged with the Oct. 17, 2011, robbery of the Sunoco gas station on Erie Boulevard, where he allegedly displayed a knife, according to court papers. The money stolen there was never recovered. The August plea covered both incidents. At his plea, Mallory indicated he was high on drugs at the time of the robbery.