Plea deal for Hopkins bank robbery suspect rescinded

A victim protested the deal for former Hopkins High School basketball player Anthony DiLoreto.

Star Tribune

Last update: November 20, 2008 - 10:53 PM

A plea deal for former Hopkins High School basketball player turned bank robbery suspect Anthony DiLoreto was rescinded Thursday after a victim objected to its terms.

DiLoreto's case was "close to a resolution" Wednesday night, but that plea was scuttled and a different one was offered up Thursday afternoon in Burnett County District Court in Wisconsin, said his attorney, Eric Nelson. DiLoreto didn't take action on the new plea, and is scheduled to appear in court Feb. 6, Nelson said.

He refused to elaborate on the new deal.

DiLoreto was charged in August with robbery of a financial institution and possession of a short-barreled shotgun or rifle. Both are felonies.

According to the charges, he drove a 16-year-old friend to the Bremer Bank in Danbury, Wis., on Aug. 16 and waited outside during the robbery. The friend, Melvin Fletcher Jr., allegedly robbed the bank while armed with a gun he told authorities belonged to DiLoreto. (Fletcher is being tried as an adult.) DiLoreto got scared and drove back to his home in Minnetonka, leaving Fletcher in Danbury.

Under the scuttled plea agreement, DiLoreto would have entered a "deferred guilty plea" to the robbery charge, but would not be convicted of a felony, Nelson said. He would have also pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors and served local jail time.

The bank manager objected to the agreement because it cleared DiLoreto of a felony conviction, Nelson said. Burnett County District Attorney William Norine could not be reached for comment.

CHAO XIONG