The former controller of a Keys newspaper robbed a bank. There will be no getaway.
Less than three weeks after he robbed a bank in Michigan, the former controller of the Key West Citizen pleaded guilty in federal court this week.
Paul Donnelly, 50, faces up to 25 years in prison for entering a bank on June 14 in Plainwell, Michigan, and handing the teller a note that said, "I have a bomb in the bag. Put all non-marked money in a bag."
Donnelly is scheduled for sentencing Oct. 29 at U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Wearing sandals, a floppy fishing hat and sunglasses, he then told the teller, “Don’t push any buttons and be quick,” and pushed a black plastic bag across the counter toward her.
Donnelly, a native of Jackson, Michigan, who listed his address as Key West when arrested, walked off with $4,749. He spent about $300 of it on lottery tickets within a half hour of leaving the PNC Bank, 131 N. Main St.
Unemployed, Donnelly had arrived in Michigan to visit relatives after first traveling to Texas, police said.
The robbery caused alarm in the small town of about 4,000. Nearby buildings were evacuated and the Michigan State Police bomb squad was called in, according to WOOD TV Channel 8 in Grand Rapids. The backpack held old clothes.
When Donnelly's family saw the surveillance photos, they called the cops.
Fourteen hours later, Donnelly was found walking on highway U.S. 131, about eight miles from the PNC Bank in Allegan County.
When Donnelly was arrested, police said his blood alcohol content was 0.24, three times the legal limit.
Donnelly's family told the TV station he is a nonviolent man with no criminal history who has struggled with alcoholism his entire life and also a reoccurring brain tumor. They called the robbery a cry for help.
In March, Donnelly was fired from his job as controller for the Key West Citizen after six years and escorted out of the building by police. He was fired at the same time as the publisher, Paul Clarin.
This story was originally published July 4, 2018 at 9:21 AM.