LE CENTER – Convicted bank robber Sandra Bathke has been ordered to pay $1,500 in restitution for the December hold up of the Elysian State Bank.Bathke was not in court for today’s restitution hearing in Le Sueur County District Court in Le Center.
Assistant Count Attorney Jason Moran said she was not required to attend in person.
In court, her public defender Richard C. Lea informed the judge that an agreement had been reached regarding the amount of restitution owed to the Le Sueur County Sheriff’s Department and the Elysian State Bank.
The 70-year-old Bathke will have to pay $1,285.31 to the bank and $214.69 to the sheriff’s department.
The hearing barely took a minute.
Lea says the award to the sheriff’s department is for the cost of towing the car Bathke was arrested in. That amount stayed the same.
But the award to the bank is a far cry from the $7,800 the bank submitted for restitution.
Following the hearing Moran declined to break down the bank’s restitution request.
And that was the problem Lea was having as well.
Lea said he had made a request for, but never received, an itemized summary on how the bank arrived at the $7,800 figure.
“It was an inconvenience and they should be compensated but to what extent,” said Lea following the hearing.
Lea said he was told the amount was for “lost profits” and “for being shut down.” Without the bank’s breakdown he says it was impossible for him to advise Bathke to accept the restitution agreement.
He had planned to formally contest the amount in court today until the mutual agreement on a dollar amount.
The nearly $1,300 agreed to was an arbitrary number to settle the issue, according to Lea.
While the criminal restitution has been settled, the bank could still take civil action against Bathke for damages as the result of the robbery.
Bathke was sentenced back in April for the 35 days she spent behind bars, placed on 15 years probation, and ordered to pay $80 in court surcharges and fees.
She entered a guilty plea in January to one count of Second Degree Aggravated Robbery. Four other felony counts, including First Degree Aggravated Robbery, were dismissed.
Bathke conned the adult son of her landlord in Janesville to drive her to the bank in Elysian to withdraw money to pay her back rent. Instead she entered the bank, told the teller she had a gun and wanted money. She left the bank with $3,700 in cash.
Bathke and the man were arrested by law enforcement as they arrived back in Janesville.