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."