Nov.

30, 2010 Grand Forks Herald Man gets more than 26 years for Gilby robbery By Archie Ingersoll FARGO An unrepentant statement from a man who robbed a bank in Gilby, N.D., with a sawed-off shotgun led a judge Monday to tack more time onto his sentence. In Fargos federal court, William Collins told U.S. District Judge Ralph Erickson: Sometimes a man has to do what a man has to do because he feels society has let him down. Collins added: If you kick a dog in a corner, hes going to bite back. Erickson was not pleased. He still thinks its about him, the judge said. That (statement) shows a complete, utter disregard for the harm that hes caused. The prosecution and defense both suggested that Collins serve 22 years in prison the mandatory minimum in this case but because of Collins statement, the judge departed from that recommendation, ordering Collins to serve more than 26 years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Erickson said Collins deserved a life sentence except for the fact that he cooperated with the government by providing a statement and offering to testify against his alleged partner in the robbery, Clifton Patterson, whos set to stand trial March 1 in Grand Forks. Other sentencing factors, Erickson said, included Collins lengthy criminal history and the unlikelihood that he can be rehabilitated. The judge ordered Collins to receive mental health treatment while in prison. Prosecutor Keith Reisenauer told the judge that Edith Johnson, the bank teller who Collins threatened with the shotgun, did not attend the sentencing because of the weather. Had she been there, she would have asked that Collins receive the maximum sentence, Reisenauer said. During the robbery, Johnson was ordered onto the floor and was handcuffed. Its only through the mercy of God that somebody didnt get more severely hurt, the judge said. Reisenauer said Johnson, who has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, has not been able to keep working at the bank. He said Johnsons claim for workers compensation has been denied by the state. She has suffered financially, as well as mentally, Reisenauer said.

Collins, 47, was ordered to pay Johnson close to $37,000 for lost wages and medical bills. He must also reimburse the Bremer Bank in Gilby for the roughly $50,000 that was stolen during the holdup. But Collins attorney, De-Wayne Johnston, said his client wont be able to make restitution. Unfortunately from our perspective, theres no way to render that in full, he said. Johnston said Collins had no intention of hurting the teller during the robbery and that hes expressed remorse for what happened to her. Outside of court, Johnston said Collins statement, the one that irked the judge, was in reference to Collins belief that the robbery was an attempt to help Debra Jensen, a woman he lived with in Grand Forks who had fallen on hard times. Jensen, 48, was accused of buying the shotgun for Collins on May 25, 2009 a day before the robbery. She pleaded guilty to making a false statement while buying the gun and was ordered to serve three years of probation. At her sentencing earlier this month, Judge Erickson said Jensen is a vulnerable adult and that Collins manipulated her into purchasing the gun. Collins was arrested Sept. 1, 2009, after a trooper stopped him and Jensen near Detroit Lakes, Minn. He pleaded guilty in August to charges of bank robbery, using a gun during a violent crime and possessing a gun as a felon.