On Wednesday, Oct. 15, 54-year-old Nicholas Liakis of Shandaken was sentenced to a lengthy prison term for robbing Community Bank on Route 28 in Boiceville in February.
Left: Nicholas Liakis, in a photo from the Ulster County District Attorney's office.
According to a press release from Ulster County District Attorney Holley Carnright, Liakis was described as a “persistent violent felony offender” at the hearing.
Liakis has multiple bank robberies and holdups in New York City and Queens on his record, according to the Daily Freeman.
Liakis pled guilty to robbing Community Bank on Feb. 26, 2014 with what appeared to be a handgun--in fact, it was a pellet gun--and a handwritten note. Cash from the robbery was recovered from his home near the bank on Route 212 in Mount Tremper.
Carnright's press release describes the scene at Wednesday's hearing, where Judge Donald Williams sentenced Liakis to a minimum of 16 years and a maximum of life in prison:
At his sentencing today Liakis stated that he was sorry and wanted to apologize to the employees of Community Bank, but Judge Donald Williams skeptically inquired if Liakis was also sorry for the victims in his numerous prior violent crimes, some of which the judge listed; Liakis paused briefly and said yes. When asked by Judge Williams when his crimes and apologies would end, Liakis answered “now.” Judge Williams asked “why now?” Liakis candidly responded that given his criminal history he did not expect to get out of prison in the remainder of his life time.
A Daily Freeman reporter interviewed Liakis in jail earlier this year. Liakis told the Freeman that he robbed the Boiceville bank because he was desperate for money after getting out of a 23-year prison term for a previous robbery:
“It was to the point where you have to pay bills, and if you’re not working, you have to get money somehow,” he said. “You can’t live off of disability. ... It was just a spur of the moment thing that I did out of desperation. I wasn’t even thinking. I wasn’t thinking like, ‘Oh, if I go back, I could be a persistent violent felon.’ It was the farthest thing from my mind. ... It didn’t even dawn on me.”
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