Man serving 1.5 years for bank robbery

The man who pleaded guilty to robbing a Yuma bank last year was sentenced to one and a half years in jail for that crime.

Thirty-year-old Richard Weigelt appeared in court Wednesday for his sentencing of an armed robbery at National Bank of Arizona and also for possession of narcotic drugs.

Weigelt pleaded guilty to one amended felony count of attempted robbery, and two amended felony counts of attempted possession of narcotic drugs.

Weigelt is set to serve a concurrent prison sentence of one and a half years and 36 months of supervised probation to follow.

Weigelt has been in custody for 251 days.

Weigelt is also required to pay $162.43 restitution to the National Bank of Arizona.

Before Weigelt was sentenced, he had an opportunity to make a plea to the judge.

“I’m an addict, been this way for a couple years now. I’ve been sober for 247 days. I apologize to everyone who has suffered,” Weigelt said.

Despite his plea, Judge Haws believed the sentence was appropriate for the crimes committed.

According to Haws, if Weigelt had only been in possession of narcotic drugs, he may have only been sentenced to a probation but Haws said, “You went further and you went to a robbery and that’s an escalation that is serious. You put people in fear. People can get hurt.”