Two men plead guilty to robbing Kelliher bank
MINNEAPOLIS — This week, two men plead guilty to robbing the First State Bank of Bigfork in Kelliher in December.
In federal court in St. Paul on Thursday, Travis Michael Burns, 20, of Bemidji, pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and abetting armed bank robbery. On Tuesday, Cody Lowell Troy, 20, of Mizpah, pleaded guilty to one count of brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence. In his plea agreement, Troy admitted robbing the bank while brandishing a 12-gauge, sawed-off shotgun that had a partially obliterated serial number, court officials said. He stole approximately $3,738.
In his plea agreement, Burns admitted he drove Troy to the bank for the purpose of robbing it on Dec. 10. Burns also admitted waiting in the vehicle while Troy went inside the bank and then driving away again after Troy ran from the bank and got back in the vehicle.
On Dec. 12, police arrested Troy in Bemidji on an outstanding Itasca County warrant for failure to appear in connection with a prior felony. At that time, officers located a red pickup that matched the description of the vehicle two witnesses spotted in the vicinity of the Kelliher bank and driving away from the bank immediately following the robbery.
During the subsequent execution of a search warrant at the Bemidji apartment where Burns lived and Troy was staying, authorities seized shotgun shells, a hacksaw, and a loaded sawed-off shotgun, as well as the sawed-off gun stock and barrel, according to court documents. Troy faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison, while Burns faces a potential maximum penalty of 25 years in federal prison. They will be sentenced at a later date.