GREEN BAY – It was a bank robbery unlike any cases Brown County Judge Kendall Kelley had previously presided over, the judge said Tuesday.
Mark Vogel, 63, of Green Bay, appeared in Brown County Circuit Court Tuesday afternoon for his sentencing hearing for robbing the BMO Harris Bank at 201 S. Military Ave. in January 2023.
Vogel pleaded guilty in January to one count of robbery of a financial institution, a Class C felony.
The charge is punishable by up to 40 years in prison and a maximum fine of $100,000. However, Kelley sentenced Vogel to a significantly lower punishment: just six years of probation, with eligibility for an earlier release after four years.
"These are peculiar circ*mstances," Kelley said.
On the evening of Jan. 18, 2023, police were called to the bank after a cash register alarm went off.
When officers arrived, they located Vogel near the building. He told police he robbed the bank, and handed over the approximately $1,761 he was given by a bank teller, according to a criminal complaint.
In an interview with investigators, the bank branch manager said he saw a man enter the building and talk to a teller, but did not realize the bank had been robbed until after the man left. When the manager went to lock the front doors while waiting for police, he saw the man standing near the building, with his bag on the ground next to him, the complaint says.
Vogel told police he robbed the bank and "tried to get caught," because he does not have health insurance and deals with multiple health issues, according to the complaint. He also told investigators he waited for customers to leave "because he did not want to scare anyone," and avoided going to an older bank teller to avoid frightening them.
The bank teller Vogel approached, a 24-year-old, told police Vogel demanded he put money in a bag. The teller asked Vogel if he was serious, which Vogel said he was, then asked the teller if the bank was insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, according to the complaint.
The teller said he believed Vogel motioned toward his waistband, leading the teller to believe he had a gun, which frightened him. However, Vogel denied making any such motion.
After the teller gave him the money, Vogel told the teller to "go ahead and call the cops," the complaint says.
Vogel told investigators that before left, he apologized to the teller if he had scared him, according to the complaint.
Neither the prosecuting nor defense attorney recommended Vogel face any prison time for the robbery. Brown County Deputy District Attorney Dana Johnson recommended a sentence of five years of probation with one year in jail imposed and stayed.
"I think all of us in the courtroom recognize today that normally when you rob a bank, you go to prison, not jail," Johnson said. However, he said, this case's circ*mstances were "really unusual."
Vogel's defense attorney, Carrie LaPlant, said Vogel committed "a crime of desperation." She said in her nearly 20 years working at the public defender's office, this was only the second client she had worked with who committed a crime for the purpose of getting arrested.
LaPlant said Vogel had been dealing with health complications that had become exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, and was facing mounting medical bills. With his deteriorating health inhibiting his ability to work, Vogel "was getting desperate," LaPlant said.
Vogel believed he did not have many other options besides going to jail for health services, she added.
"Mr. Vogel had difficulty asking for and accepting help from others," she said.
However, since Vogel's arrest, LaPlant noted that he has seen people in his life "coming out of the woodwork" to offer him support.
She asked Kelley to not give Vogel any further jail time.
When delivering Vogel's sentence, Kelley noted that while Vogel took efforts to minimize negative impacts on the bank teller and the bank, he still committed a serious offense that impacted the community.
However, Kelley said he is not concerned about Vogel committing more crimes. He said Vogel's long term of probation is "not intended to be punitive" but to "make sure he has resources available."
Kelley imposed a one-year jail sentence if Vogel violates terms of his probation. However, Vogel already served 379 days in Brown County Jail following his arrest, so he has more jail credit than that sentence, the judge noted.
Kelley noted that in the year and a half since the bank robbery, Vogel has been able to improve his financial and health circ*mstances.
"What is most impressive to me is that you have done well during this time. And I hope what's most important to you is the number of people that have come forward to support you," the judge told Vogel.
RELATED:Green Bay man charged with bank robbery told police he 'tried to get caught' for medical care
Contact Kelli Arseneau at 920-213-3721 orkarseneau@gannett.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, at@ArseneauKelli.541
