THREE SENTENCED IN BANK ROBBERY

RAPID CITY - Three Hill City men were sentenced Tuesday to federal prison for robbing $24,007 from First Western Bank in Custer last December.

They also got a lecture from U.S.  District Judge Richard Battey on the evils of marijuana use and its relationship to criminal behavior.

In handing down sentences of 36 months in prison to Michael Hobart, 46 months to Duane Garlow and 49 months to Casey Stout, Battey noted that all three had been regular marijuana smokers who were using the drug Dec.  12, when they robbed the bank.

Battey said marijuana users often argue that smoking marijuana does little harm.

"The people who believe that ought to be in this courtroom today and see what the use of marijuana has done to these three young men," Battey said.

Hobart and Stout were 18 and Garlow was 19 at the time of the robbery.  Along with the prison sentences -- which can be reduced under federal good-behavior provisions by a maximum of 53 days a year -- the men must also each serve three years of drug-free, crime-free supervised release after serving their prison terms.  They must also each pay $7,905.58 in restitution and $100 into a special victims assistance fund.

Stout received the stiffest prison sentence after admitting that it was his idea to rob the bank.  He and Garlow entered the bank about 5:30 p.m.  Dec.  12 by breaking a glass window on the back side of the building.  They threatened two tellers with a slingshot and a lug wrench, and made one of the tellers put cash in a plastic garbage bag taken from a garbage can in the bank.

Hobart refused to enter the bank and waited outside in his pickup during the robbery.  After initially lying about his role in the crime, he eventually cooperated with authorities and offered to testify against Stout.

Those factors contributed to his reduced sentence.  But Battey refused a request by Hobart's defense lawyer, Robert Gusinsky, to declare that Hobart had a minimal role in the robbery, which could have further reduced his sentence.

Gusinsky said Hobart didn't want to be involved and didn't really believe his friends would rob the bank.

"He thought they were playing a joke.  Well, the joke got pretty serious when they came running out of the bank," Gusinsky said.  "My client was caught up in the moment.  He was caught up in the events that occurred."

Federal prosecutor Mark Vargo agreed that Hobart's role was substantially less than Stout's and Garlow's.

"He's the only one who used any sense at all in refusing to go in the bank," Vargo said.  "If all three of them had done that, none of this would have happened."

Vargo also pointed out that Hobart's potential testimony encouraged Stout to confess, eliminating the need for a trial.  And Hobart spent only $20 for gas from his share of the robbery cash and had actually made a regular loan payment to First Western Bank before he was arrested, Vargo said.

But Battey said Hobart participated in the robbery, even if he didn't enter the bank.

"He did participate in this bank robbery, and the way he participated was to drive the getaway car," Battey said.  "It occurs to the court that the getaway driver is no less culpable than the people who rob the bank."

Hobart, Garlow and Stout apologized for their actions in the robbery.

After the sentencing, Vargo said the men would likely serve their sentences outside South Dakota.  The only federal corrections facility in the state is a very low-security camp at a former college campus in Yankton.  Bank robbery will probably require a different facility but still with relatively low security that offers options for rehabilitation, he said.

Vargo also said the fact that a lug wrench and slingshot were used in the robbery had become the subject of some humor.  But there was nothing funny about a robbery that included potential harm to the tellers, he said.

Pat Walker, president of First Western Bank in Custer, attended the sentencing and said afterward that bank employees were trained to not resist robbers and that the tellers did as they were trained.

The lug wrench and slingshot were still frightening and could have resulted in injuries, Walker said.

"This issue of danger was imminent, no matter what ( weapons ) they used," he said.  "Our people responded well."