Two felony convictions out of Cayuga County have been upheld by a state appeals court.
District Attorney Brittany Grome Antonacci said the Appellate Division, Fourth Department, affirmed both cases — one involving a bank robbery and the other a major drug investigation.
In the first case, Johann Bass, 45, of Falls Church, Virginia, pled guilty in January 2023 to third-degree robbery for a bank heist on Genesee Street in Auburn the year before. He received the maximum indeterminate sentence of 2⅓ to 7 years in prison.
The second case involved Chalise Bullock, who pled guilty in January 2023 to attempted second-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance. Prosecutors said she admitted to possessing at least four ounces of cocaine. In May 2023, she was sentenced to five years in prison plus five years of post-release supervision.
Bullock was one of 16 people charged in a multi-year drug probe that began in Auburn and extended across much of Central New York, with connections as far as California.
Chief Assistant District Attorney Christopher T. Valdina argued the appeals.
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