GIRARD — The man suspected of recently robbing the Chase Bank in Girard and PNC Bank in Austintown is in federal custody and his case is in the federal court system.

On Thursday, James Verdream, 56, of Boardman, who has a history of failed bank heists, appeared via video for a hearing before a federal magistrate who revoked the defendant’s supervised release.

During the hearing, Verdream was informed by prosecutors about the allegations he robbed the PNC Bank in Austintown and another financial institution in western Pennsylvania on May 3, and the Chase Bank in Girard on May 9.

The defense, through appointed attorney Kevin Spellacy, requested a preliminary hearing for Verdream.

Magistrate Judge Thomas M. Parker of the U.S. District Court of Northern Ohio in Cleveland set hearings for preliminary examination and detention for 10 a.m. May 20.

Parker remanded Verdream to the custody of U.S. Marshals Service, where he has been since his arrest by members of the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force, the FBI and the Austintown Police Department on Tuesday afternoon.

Verdream, who has a Pearson Circle address in Boardman, was wanted by U.S. Marshals for violating the terms of his supervised release from federal prison in November, the release states. He was serving time after being convicted of two bank robberies.

A news release states Verdream also is the suspect in a robbery of a bank in Gibsonia, Pa., that also occurred May 3.

Officers were called Tuesday to a bank in downtown Youngstown after a vehicle, identified as a maroon SUV that Verdream was known to drive, was seen in the area. Police followed the vehicle and tried to stop the SUV on state Route 11 near the Mahoning Avenue exit in Austintown. The release states Verdream led officers on a short chase in the vehicle and then tried to run away, but was caught and arrested.

Meanwhile, local charges against Verdream in Mahoning County Court in Austintown were dismissed Wednesday by Judge Scott Hunter so the federal procedures could continue.

Girard police received a call after 5 p.m. Monday about the robbery at the Chase Bank on West Liberty Street. A report states a man entered the bank and handed the teller a note demanding $10,000. A report showed $1,000 was taken from the bank.

Past federal documents show this wasn’t the defendant’s first brush with accusations of robbing banks.

FBI reports show Verdream was involved in a robbery of a credit union in April 2014 in Albuquerque, N.M., where he fled in a taxi. Verdream was later caught in Phoenix and sentenced to 46 months in federal prison.

In 2018, Verdream was on the Feds’ radar for a parole violation when he was accused of robbing two more credit unions in the Southwest.

After his release from federal prison in November 2021, Verdream moved back to the Mahoning Valley, where he had been sent to prison on a passing bad checks conviction in 1997. Court records also show Verdream was sent to prison for one year in 2002 on a string of theft and passing bad check convictions.

gvogrin@tribtoday.com