Wingate

pleads

guilty

Courtland man was charged with VB&T robbery

By KURT NESBITT

Journal Staff Writer

ST. PAUL -- An 18-year old man, accused of masterminding and carrying out the Sept. 27 robbery of a New Ulm bank, pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court.

Peter Clayton Wingate of Courtland, was indicted by a federal grand jury in October on armed robbery charges after he was arrested following the heist at the south branch of Valley Bank & Trust.

Five New Ulm teen-agers have subsequently been charged with felonies in Brown County District Court with what prosecutors said was a conspiracy to rob the bank. Court documents claim the five had some part in planning and carrying out the robbery and received portions of the $81,579 taken from the bank vault.

Karen Bailey, media coordinator for U.S. District Court in St. Paul, said Wingate struck a plea agreement with prosecutors Thursday afternoon although the charges against him were not changed. Bailey would not release any further details.

Wingate was arrested at his rural Courtland home three days after the robbery. Police and FBI agents had scoured the New Ulm area looking for physical clues and information on Wingate's whereabouts. They caught up to him after receiving a tip from one of his friends.

He continues to be held in the Twin Cities area without bond. Bailey said a sentencing hearing hasn't been set for Wingate. He is facing a maximum sentence of 25 years in a federal penitentiary and a $250,000 fine.

"It's a tragedy all around," said Mary Ellen Domeier, president of Valley Bank & Trust, referring to the robbery and its consequences.

Only one of his alleged co-conspirators is currently in custody. County officials confirmed that Adam Michael Boyum, 19, of New Ulm, is being held in the county jail on an unrelated matter. Boyum was arrested on a warrant last week.

So far, the others who supposedly helped Wingate -- Jeremy Bruce Blank, 18; Amber Marie Cottrell, 16; Gary Thomas Dey, 18; and Jesse Warren Miklas, 18 -- are moving through the district court at various stages, said Brown County court officials.

Cottrell and Blank provided Wingate with transportation on the day of the robbery. Boyum accompanied Wingate into the woods behind the bank the next day to recover backpacks with the money, clothes and the .22-caliber survival rifle used in the robbery.

Miklas received $1,700 in cash after the robbery even though he had nothing to do with either the planning or the execution of the crime, court documents said. Miklas was recently certified as an adult and should appear in court in February

Blank is expected to have an admit-deny hearing later this month.

Cottrell is scheduled for a hearing that will decide if she'll stand trial as an adult.

Dey is an adult and is also set for a hearing next month.

FBI Special Agent Paul Mc Cabe credited local police and FBI agents for putting together a strong case against Wingate.

"When you have this strong a case, it's not unusual that the suspect pleads guilty," he said.

Court documents said Wingate told the FBI that he and Dey planned the robbery over the course of a few months this past summer. They singled out the Valley Bank & Trust south location because of its small size. They also planned to set a car fire on the north end of New Ulm to distract police while the robbery was in progress.

Dey also told the FBI that Blank, Boyum and Cottrell agreed to help, but decided Wingate was the only one who would actually go inside the bank and commit the robbery, even though they agreed to split the loot among themselves.

All four of the remaining defendants are charged according to their involvements with the robbery.

All of them stand accused of receiving stolen property, a felony that has a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine.

Boyum and Dey are also charged with conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery. Those charges add the possibility of another 10 years in prison and a $17,500 fine.