Steven Cormier of Walnutport, Pennsylvania, has reached a very sad and unexpected conclusion to a once distinguished career. Cormier, 58, previously agreed to disbarment after his arrest for bank robbery in a truly heart-breaking story of a former general counsel who found himself in a free fall. He has now pleaded guilty to robbery, theft and receiving stolen property. He also pleaded no contest to making terroristic threats. He was sentenced to 18 to 36 months in prison
Cormier was once general counsel at firetruck maker Kovatch Mobile Equipment Corp and was featured in at least one gambling competition. However he lost his job and found himself without money while caring for his mother.
He clearly had enough when he walked into a Wells Fargo Bank and told a teller that “things are going to get ugly” if she did not give him money. He left with nearly $16,000 but did not get far when police caught up with this car. He was brought back to the bank and identified by witnesses.
It is a crime that seems to speak of desperation after Cormier found himself unemployed and at the age of 58 without any new prospects for employment. That is hardly an excuse of course for a criminal act, but it is a chilling and cautionary tale in this economy.
“…but it is a chilling and cautionary tale in this economy.”
How much do you collect, while many students at your school don’t have enough food???
Sorry about all those students in your kids’ classroom btw, your life must be so trying.
In Provo, Utah, a bicyclist stopped IFO the train tracks for the train to pass. A female illegal citizen driving a Cadillac Escalade ran over the bicyclist and dragged him into the train, which killed the bicyclist. She admitted she saw no bicyclist, and her windshield had ice and frost with only a small circle rubbed out w/minimal visibility.
The State of Utah charges convicted criminals per diem for time spent in State prison. As a Utah resident, the Utah DA would have positively won a conviction against any normal legal citizen with easily verified personal and/or familial income stream. Because the perp in this case was illegal lacking easily attached income stream, the DA’s sum total penalty was deportation.
She probably returned to the US within a week.
If, as in Turley’s case, the perp lacks funds to attach, and appears to be low risk, the DA may be loathe to saddle tax payers with the prison bill. The other class is the elite like Hillary and bankers, who are almost guaranteed preferential treatment.
This guy should have gotten a job with Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs or HSBC…
It’s heartbreaking to hear about people throwing it all away. The regret must be intense. He might have thought that finding work would be difficult, but now it really is. He seems like a broken man.
The ailing mother was, most probably, the getaway driver.
And the mother?
White male, 58 years old. He was never going to get a job. Robbing a bank was perfect. 3 hots and a cot.
hmmm, almost 16,000 from a bank that has stolen millions and no one from the bank goes to jail.
Small point. When I was an investigator for a prosecutors office[KC] we would tell cops to NEVER bring a suspect back to the scene to be identified by witnesses, as was done in this case. It’s a bad identification. It puts pressure on witnesses to say, “Yes, that’s the sh!tbird.” Take them to the station and do a proper lineup.
The good news is, in prison you don’t have to worry about where your next meal will come from.
There are documented cases of elderly or those with physical illnesses who said they robbed a bank just to go to prison for healthcare and/or food they can’t afford. Yet another example of our upside-down world where governments have plenty of money for arms but not for the poor. And, no, I’m not excusing nor second-guessing this guy.
Nobody never told this guy that the best way to rob a bank is to own one?
18-36 months? This seems reasonable but uncommonly light.
Yes, Our system is full of drug related crimes serving much longer sentences. Theft is hardly treated as a crime any longer because the politicians and their investors are the biggest thieves? Lol
Olly, what makes this reasonable? If the AVERAGE sentence dished out for someone committing a bank robbery is 10-25 years, on what planet is 18-36 months, in penance of such actions, even in the realm of REASONABLE? Yes, my heart goes out to him because he lost his job and was caring for his ailing parent, but I find his actions–criminal actions–to be worthy of more than a few months in the big house. He didn’t just speed in a school zone or jaywalk. He committed a serious crime–where he placed a teller in fear for her life–and along with that serious crime should come serious consequences. A sentence of 18-36 months, with time off for good behavior, doesn’t qualify as serious consequences and is, therefore, unreasonable. I am quite sure that all bank robbers have some sob story about being down on their luck and living with an ill family member, but, despite the head of white hair, this guy is only 58 years old, with ample employment opportunities, even if those employment opportunities may not be exactly what he was seeking in terms of prestige or compensation. I find his sentence inexcusable. Why is his life any more valuable and worthy of consideration than some other uneducated, poor schlub, down on his luck, without a job and caring for an ill family member? The fact that he is an attorney? Give me a break. Instead of mitigating the circumstances, his superior education and background should have served to do just the opposite. Faced with hard times, his options and choices in life were far more numerous and accessible than those available to someone without his background and education. No wonder people no longer have any faith in the system. When guys like this, who will skate in a mere few months, get preferential treatment not accorded to the average Joe, is it any wonder that the concept of justice has been irreparably damaged?
Because sentencing guidelines and the deterrence/rehabilitation they supposedly provide seem as arbitrary for regular folk as the rule of law is for the “connected elite”. It is sadly ironic Wells Fargo had been stealing from customers for years and no one will be doing jail time and yet this man will be doing time for robbing Wells Fargo. He was on the wrong side of the teller window. Had he run for public office he would have been in a far better position to steal other peoples money and get away with it. If he had gotten to a high enough station, he could have simply dropped a pallet of cash anywhere in the world and the media would anoint him a hero.
Bam Bam, I get your point and in principle, I agree with you. If we lived in a society with a rule of law that holds EVERYONE accountable to it, this sentence is unreasonable. However, we can no longer claim justice is blind and who would know that better than an attorney. Apparently this man was also a gambler. So he rolled the dice and lost. Based on his sentence though, it was a risk worth taking.
58 years old, attorney, held a great job. What did this guy do with his life, pole dancers or drugs? Where is his family?
May have gambled it all away. Professor Turley linked to the man’s participation in at least one competition.