A co-defendant in a local bank robbery will appear in court again later this week for a continued final pretrial conference.
Ryan H. Seibert, 22, appeared in court Monday but no resolution has been reached in the case. Champaign County Assistant Prosecutor Benjamin Hoskinson informed the court that the state had not offered a plea resolution in the case outside of Seibert pleading guilty to the charges he was indicted on.
Attorney Christopher Bucci, Seibert’s attorney, advised a potential plea resolution was being sent to the prosecutor’s office. The hearing was continued to Friday and if no resolution is reached a jury trial is scheduled to start on Dec. 15.
Seibert pleaded not guilty to two fifth-degree felony theft charges and one count each of robbery, grand theft, receiving stolen property and a first-degree felony aggravated robbery charge in October.
Seibert and co-defendant Michaela M. Anderson were both indicted in October for the March 5 robbery at Security National Bank, 828 Scioto St.
On that date, bank employees were reportedly approached by Seibert wearing a stocking over his face and demanding they turn over a bag they were carrying near the outside ATM. An employee threw the bag to the ground and Seibert retrieved the bag which contained $10,000 in $20 bills before fleeing on foot to the 700 block of East Court Street where he got into a vehicle that was owned and operated by Anderson.
The co-defendants were taken into custody on Sept. 23. Prior to the arrests, Urbana police investigators spent hundreds of hours investigating the case including Urbana officers going to Florida twice to follow leads.
A court statement filed in the Champaign County Municipal Court states Seibert was a former teller at the bank who was fired for stealing funds. In March 2014, bank officials learned through audits and interviews that Seibert stole $3,208.84 while working there and deposited some of the stolen money into his own accounts. The grand jury indictment contends Seibert’s two theft charges occurred on or about March 1, 2013, to March 31, 2013.
Anderson, 19, pleaded not guilty to a first-degree felony aggravated robbery charge and felony robbery, grand theft, receiving stolen property and possessing criminal tools charges in October. The possessing criminal tools charge holds a specification for forfeiture of property related to the vehicle used to flee the scene of the crime. A final pretrial conference for Anderson is also scheduled for Friday.
