HARTFORD — A robber who warned a bank teller “don’t be stupid” in a note demanding money was sentenced in Superior Court Wednesday to three years in prison.
Richard Sheets, 49, of Bloomfield earlier pleaded guilty to first-degree robbery under the Alford doctrine. With Alford pleas, the defendants don’t admit guilt, but agree that there is enough evidence to be convicted in a trial.
His full sentence is 10 years, suspended after three, followed by three years of probation.
According to police and prosecutor Anne Mahoney, Sheets was identified as the man who went into the Sovereign Bank, 578 Windsor Ave., late on the morning of June 10 and handed a note to a teller. The note read, “Give me the money, don’t be stupid.”
There was a delay because the teller didn’t have the keys to the money drawer, police said at the time. Sheets yelled, “Don’t give me a hard time, I have a gun.”
The teller was able to get keys and open the drawer. She handed him cash, and he walked out and got into a newer-model Ford Mustang that was last seen headed south on Windsor Avenue, or Route 159.
Mahoney said Sheets denied involvement in the robbery.
A charge of second-degree robbery stemming from a different holdup the same month in Bloomfield was dropped. Mahoney said surveillance cameras captured both robberies, but the Bloomfield suspect did not have Sheets’ skin color or build.