The 25-year-old Le Roy man accused of robbing Five Star Bank in Pavilion Oct. 5 pleaded guilty this morning in Genesee County Superior Court.
Nick A. Hawkins, of 24 W. Main St., copped to felony robbery in the third degree, which could result in two-and-a-half to seven years in state prison.
When asked by Judge Robert Noonan if he forcibly stole $443 from Five Star Bank, Hawkins said he did.
"I gave her a note that said 'Put the money in the bag now, thanks.' That's exactly what it said," Hawkins testified.
The crime prompted a four-hour manhunt in Pavilion involving deputies from Genesee, Wyoming and Livingston counties as well as State Police and the DEC all-terrain-vehicle unit.
Hawkins also pleaded guilty today to felony burglary in the third degree for breaking into a building at Frost Ridge Campground, located at 8108 Conlon Road, in the Town of Le Roy in April 2001.
The penalty for that is one-and-a-third to four years if his request for youthful offender status is accepted by Judge Noonan.
Sentencing on both charges, which are to run concurrently, is scheduled for 9:15 a.m. on Dec. 8. Hawkins remains in county jail in lieu of $25,000 bail.
Three orders of protection were also set forth by Judge Robert Noonan for the three bank employees present on the morning of the robbery.
Hawkins' attorney, Gary Horton, said afterward that he's probably looking at two-and-a-half years on a concurrent sentence.
A 2 and half year sentence
A 2 and half year sentence means how much REAL time to serve? What does the designation Youthful Offender mean to sentencing and parole? Ater reading the story on THEBATAVIA about this young man's willfully criminal lifestyle, I have questions - does he pose a threat to society if he is given leniency or will he take the grace offered to turn his life around?