New London — Groton Town police have extradited a federal prison inmate from New York to face charges connected to a 2006 bank robbery in Mystic.

John F. Robinson III, 47, formerly of East Providence, R.I., was picked up in New York on Wednesday and appeared in New London Superior Court on Thursday on charges of second-degree robbery and third-degree larceny.

Robinson is nearing the completion of an 11-year term in federal prison for a Sept. 29, 2006, robbery at a Bank of America branch in Providence.

That robbery occurred just days before an Oct. 2, 2006, robbery at the Chelsea Groton Bank branch at 2 Water St. in Mystic.

A man entered the bank that morning and passed a note on an envelope to the bank teller that read, “Give me all the money. I will hurt you. Hurry up.” The man then leaned in towards the female teller and said, “Hurry up,” according to the arrest warrant affidavit prepared by Groton Town Police Detective Robert Emery.

The teller handed over $8,360, though police said $3,700 was recovered from the floor of the bank.

From the start of the investigation, detectives had two major clues aside from the man’s description: the envelope had a return address at Mohegan Sun but the addressee's name was torn off and a side-view mirror that was torn off in an accident during the getaway.

Detectives were able to use the postal barcode to track the origin of the letter to an abandoned home in North Stonington. The forwarding address from that home led to another home in Griswold, where residents pointed to friends or relatives who might fit the description of the culprit.

Meanwhile, detectives were able to match the side-view mirror to a Pontiac Grand Am. Police eventually located the Grand Am and found it to have damage consistent with the getaway car and found the missing portion of the envelope inside.

It was while police were trying to track Robinson’s whereabouts that Robinson was arrested in the Providence robbery. Providence police contacted Groton Town police on Oct. 10, 2006, to let them know Robinson was in custody. During his interview with police, Robinson allegedly confessed to his involvement in the Mystic robbery, according to police.

“Robinson said the robbery was not planned, that he was low on cash and needed to support his drug habit,” according to the affidavit.

Robinson told police he spent the money on crack cocaine and hotel rooms, part of a two-week crack cocaine binge, according to the affidavit.

Appointed a public defender at his arraignment in court Thursday, Robinson is due to appear again on April 30. Federal records show Robinson is due to be released from his federal prison sentence on June 2, 2016.

g.smith@theday.com

Twitter: @SmittyDay