TRAVERSE CITY — Eric Michael Martin said he didn't intend to harm anyone when he told a Kingsley bank teller he placed a bomb nearby.
Martin needed cash to pay off a gambling debt. To him, a bank was the most logical solution.
But even though there was no bomb or plan to hurt anyone, terrified bank tellers and bystanders didn't know that, 13th Circuit Court Judge Philip E. Rodgers said during Martin's sentencing on Friday.
"The fact of the matter is, yeah, a real bomb would have made this worse," he told Martin. "But subjectively, no one knows, which is why this is a significant event."
Rodgers sentenced Martin, 50, to a minimum of two years in prison on a felony count of bank robbery. He pleaded guilty to the count in June.
Martin went into the Northwestern Bank branch in Kingsley early May 3 and handed a teller a note demanding all of her $100, $50, and $20 bills in a bag, a report indicates. He told tellers there was a bomb in the parking lot and drove off on M-113.
Authorities arrested him a few hours later at Turtle Creek Casino in Williamsburg.
Martin, who was a familiar face at the bank, appeared remorseful at his sentencing.
"I sincerely want to apologize to the two ladies who were working that morning," he said. "I just can't imagine what they were thinking and how scared they were."
Dozens of police officers converged on the scene the day of the robbery .
"I'd like to apologize to everybody in Kingsley," Martin said. "Some people I know, some I don't. I'm very sorry for what they had to go through."
Art Southerton, a vice president at Northwestern, said the incident was traumatic for tellers. One will have to take an extended leave due to anxiety issues, he said.
"This is not something that goes away quickly," he said. "The impact of this is going to be long-lasting."
Region
Kingsley bank robber gets jail
Man said he needed cash to pay off a gambling debt
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Bear sighted at Mancelona Middle School
