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Man sentenced to prison for 2016 bank robbery

Posted at 1:04 PM, Aug 22, 2017
and last updated 2017-08-22 15:53:13-04

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Joseph Allen Ellsworth, 32, was sentenced to Tuesday 14 years in prison for robbing a Fifth Third Bank in Wyoming.

The Michigan U.S. Attorney’s Office says Ellsworth entered the bank on 54th Avenue around 2 p.m. on July 20, 2016 and pointed a semi-automatic pistol at a teller.

Ellsworth made off with more than $7,000, but the cash was stained with a dye pack.

Police eventually tracked him down and recovered the stolen money, along with a bike Ellsworth had been riding that was also stained with blue dye.

In addition to being sentenced to federal prison, Ellsworth is ordered to pay $7,318 in restitution and serve four years probation after his time behind bars.

One of the tellers on the other end of Ellsworth’s pistol back in July 2016 spoke at his sentencing, saying “I know I will forever struggle with the emotional and mental effects of these crimes. I am not sure I will ever fully recover.”

She told the court that she initially had to leave the Grand Rapids area following the incident, “I do hope that one day I can use my traumatic experiences to help others who were unwillingly put in a situation like I was.”