Alleged Bank Robber in Court
The trial against a Houghton County man accused of trying to break into an ATM is underway.
20 year old Gordon Lewis of Dollar Bay is charged with attempted safe cracking.
He also has a trial pending for attempted larceny in a building involving a separate incident.
Houghton County Prosecutor Michael Makinen says Lewis, along with 18–year–old Paden Rothenberger, tried to break into an ATM at the Miner’s State Bank in South Range in early October 2011.
Rothenberger was sentenced in March to one year in jail for the incident.
In exchange for a plea bargain…Rothenberger agreed to testify against Lewis.
Rothenberger stated that he and Lewis tried to break into the ATM because Lewis needed money for a better lawyer to fight another felony charge.
Lewis’s attorney, David Gemignani tried to paint Rothenberger as a drug addict who needed money for himself at the time of the incident.
The power drill used in the crime was never located but a receipt for one purchased on the day of the break–in was found in Lewis’s car.
Clothing similar to that worn by one of the suspects was found in Lewis’s home but the defense maintained that there was no evidence directly linking him to the crime scene.
Lewis could face up to 5 years in prison if convicted.
The trial is set to continue tomorrow morning.