- A former bank teller turned bank robber apologized in court yesterday for the terror she inflicted on her victims.
- “It pains me in my heart to think of the tellers and victims involved,” Emelda Cuddy told a judge before being sentenced to 4 and a half years in prison. “I promise I will never reoffend or commit any crimes again."
- The 26 year old woman plead guilty to 6 credit union robberies between July and December 2007 where she obtained $31,000 cash.
- The show of support “speaks volumes of the person that lays deep inside you,” said Judge Rob Finlayson. “... But today you must pay for the crimes you have committed.”
- Defence lawyer John Corona said Cuddy “started hanging out with the wrong crowd” in the spring of 2007 and began using drugs with people she met in the Corydon Avenue bar scene.
- “She became associated with gangsters and the subject of extreme financial pressures."
- Cuddy did not rob the banks to support a drug habit.
- Cuddy typically disguised herself with sunglasses and a hoodie before handing a teller a note saying she had a gun and demanding money.
- “I.P. (Indian Posse) is watching outside,” she wrote in one note. “I have two minutes to get $8,000 or I will shoot two people.”
- Staff at the last bank Cuddy robbed said she was visibly upset and crying and said she “didn’t want to do it but needed the $5,000.”
- “She was a teller, she knew how traumatic and scary it must have been for these tellers to be robbed."
- “This has had a significant impact on her psyche. The level of remorse is genuine.”
- Cuddy was arrested the following day trying to cross the border into North Dakota.
- Crown recommended Cuddy be sentenced to six years in prison and said Cuddy used her knowledge of banking to her advantage — including specialized instructions in her robbery notes — and was careful not to leave any fingerprints.
- Defence said Cuddy was under “extraordinary pressures” and had never been in trouble with the law.
- At the time Cuddy committed her first bank robbery, she was facing fraud and theft charges in connection with $29,000 she pilfered from the Entegra Credit Union.
-Those charged were stayed by the Judge because the money had been repaid. I believe that this is one of those cases where the defendant did not rob the banks to support a drug addiction or because she wanted to harm anybody. She had a different type of intent than most criminals and that should be considered. She had no previous record, expressed extreme and sincere remorse, was under financial pressures and became associated with the "wrong people" who did drugs. This woman promised to never re-offend and I think that she realizes the harm she has caused to the victims of the robberies and I believe her.
I don't agree with this woman's sentence of 4 and a half years. I feel that prison should be reserved for those people are dangerous and violent and who have a high to moderate risk of re-offending. I dont believe that this woman fits any of these criteria. She committed the bank robberies for different reasons than most other criminals would and I dont believe that prison will help her, but could possibly harm her. She will have to be sent to Edmonton Women's Prison where she is far from her family and friends and is immersed in pro-criminal attitudes, values and behaviours of the women in prison.
I believe that this woman should have received a 2 year conditional sentence combined with a fine with conditions of abstaining from drugs/alcohol, not going to banks, etc. I believe she can be rehabilitated and that serving her time in the community would help her to become a better person and to truly take responsibility for her actions.
This sentence is NOT appropriate, in my opinon and is far too harsh for this woman.
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