A grammatically challenged ex-con is looking at 10 years in prison for robbing a Fridley bank of less than $2,000.
Joe Nathan Michael, 48, of Fridley, was sentenced Tuesday in federal court after pleading guilty to holding up the TCF bank at Cub Foods on May 20, 2010.
According to the plea agreement, Michael gave the teller a note that read "Give money, I gun," leaving her confused about what he wanted. He told her to give him all the money and not to push any buttons.
She handed over $1,991, recorded bait bills and a concealed electronic tracking device. Michael put the money in his jacket and fled on foot.
Police, provided with a description, saw Michael standing at a nearby bus stop and apprehended him.
Michael's criminal history includes convictions in Minneapolis for felony robbery and felony domestic assault and gross misdemeanors for domestic assault and assault.
PAUL WALSH
A federal judge sentenced a 29-year-old Brooklyn Center woman to 27 months in prison for her role in a scheme orchestrated by her aunt, a former Minnesota Department of Revenue auditor, that defrauded the state of nearly $2 million. Laurie Sondrall wept after U.S. District Judge Joan Ericksen delivered her sentence for conspiracy to commit mail fraud, saying she would recommend that Sondrall be imprisoned in Minnesota. Her attorney, Reggie Aligada , pleaded for a reduced sentence, noting that since the crime, she has become the mother of two children. Ericksen noted that many defendants had children and pointed out that at the time she was defrauding taxpayers, Sondrall was receiving public assistance from the state of Minnesota, which is derived from taxpayers. Sondrall was drawn into the conspiracy, authorities said, by her mother, Nancy Sondrall, 55, of Brooklyn Center, who has pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing. The architect of the scheme was Pamela Dellis , 58, of Lindstrom, who worked for the revenue department, processing legitimate tax overpayments. She also has pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing. Court records say Dellis created more than 200 false refunds in the form of checks and electronic funds transfers, worth more than $1.9 million, that she then had sent to her sister, Nancy Sondrall, and niece, Laurie Sondrall. RANDY FURST
