Boston man arrested for armed robbery again after early release from federal prison

BOSTON — Boston Police said that a convicted bank robber, 57-year-old Stephen Williams, led police on a foot chase after making off with cash from a Santander bank last Friday. The police recovered $7,538 after Williams allegedly wrote a note indicating he had a weapon and handed it to the teller before fleeing.

Boston 25 News has learned Williams was eligible for release to a halfway house in August 2020 after serving 80% of his five-year sentence for two other bank robberies. Judge Mark Wolf released Williams a few weeks early on July 23 after the court reviewed his request for compassionate release due to COVD-19 concerns.

“People come out of prison every day and do wonderful things and we shouldn’t take this one example and lose sight of the real goal, which is to protect public health and public safety,” said Elizabeth Matos of Prisoner Legal Services.

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Matos is calling on the governor for the release of hundreds of inmates to control the spread of the virus in prisons. She added that Williams' case should not distract from the real problem: prisons are super-spreaders.

“There are a number of ways we can safely decarcerate [sic],” said Senator Becca Rausch, who visited the Norfolk County Prison where they saw a recent spike in COVID-19 cases. “When I visited I spoke with several inmates and one of them said to me, ‘I know I’m no angel, but I don’t deserve to die in here because of COVID.’”

Cox Media Group