A Marion man was sentenced to four years in prison Monday after pleading guilty to robbing a Lewis Center bank in July.
Michael Paul Dice, 59, of 131 W. Center St., Apt. A, Marion, was sentenced in Delaware County Common Pleas Court Monday morning by Judge Everett Krueger.
Krueger sentenced Dice to four years in prison on one charge of robbery, a third-degree felony. He was indicted by a grand jury on Aug. 14 on a charge of robbery and a charge of theft, a fifth-degree felony. The theft charge was dropped as condition of a plea agreement.
Krueger also said that, after Dice is released, he will be subject to three years of post-release control.
Dice was credited for the 107 days he has spent in the Delaware County Jail since his arrest on Aug. 4. Dice was still in the Delaware County Jail Monday afternoon, awaiting transport to prison.
At a change-of-plea hearing on Oct. 7, Dice pleaded guilty to the robbery charge. He said he entered the Key Bank on Owenfield Drive on July 27 and gave a note to the teller. Dice said the note demanded cash and acknowledged that the demand was a robbery.
Dice said he told the teller he didn’t want any dye packs and wanted no trouble. Authorities said the teller gave Dice an undisclosed amount of money in a bag and Dice left.
Dice said he knew he had traumatized the teller but he made no threats against her and never intended to harm her.
Dice was arrested without incident by deputies from the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office on Aug. 4. Officials say a surveillance video appeared on an episode of Central Ohio Crime Stoppers on Aug. 3 and a person recognized Dice and contacted authorities to tell them of his whereabouts.
Dice admitted that his outfit of a ball cap and safety glasses was “not really a disguise.”
Assistant county prosecutor Cory Goe added that, as another condition of the pleas deal, prosecutors and Dice’s attorney, Kingston Malley Jr., would jointly recommend that Krueger sentence Dice to 30 months in prison. However, Krueger told Dice at the change-of-plea hearing that it was only a recommendation and that he was not obligated to follow it. Krueger told Dice then that he could be sentenced to between 12 and 60 months in prison.
