Woman Pleads Guilty to Bank Robbery
| U.S. Attorney’s Office October 23, 2012 |
US Attorney Brendan V. Johnson announced that Michelle Marie Bock, age 39, of Sioux City, Iowa, appeared before Chief U.S. District Judge Karen E. Schreier on October 22, 2012, and pled guilty to an indictment that charged her with bank robbery. The maximum penalty upon conviction is 20 years in prison and/or a $250,000 fine, plus restitution.
Bock robbed the First Premier Bank branch located at 3401 South Kiwanis Avenue in Sioux Falls on July 17, 2012. At that time she presented a note to a teller reading, “This is a robbery” and was given money. Bock had taped fake dynamite to her torso and wore the “bomb” into the bank.
Bock concocted a story to law enforcement that she had been kidnapped in Sioux City, Iowa, and forced to rob the bank. She said two men had taped the bomb to her torso and said they told her they would blow it up if she failed to do as instructed.
The investigation was conducted by the Sioux Falls Police Department and the FBI. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John E. Haak.
A presentence investigation was ordered, and a sentencing date was set for January 14, 2013. The defendant was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending sentencing.