St. Paul Man Pleads Guilty to Robbing Bank

A 26-year-old St. Paul man has pleaded guilty in federal court to robbing the TCF Bank located at 1988 Suburban Ave. in St. Paul on July 6, 2009. Donteh Lamont Smith entered his plea before United States District Court Judge James Rosenbaum in Minneapolis on Sept. 16. He was indicted on July 13.

In his plea agreement, Smith admitted stealing $4,021 from the TCF bank. Specifically, he entered the bank at 2:45 p.m. on July 6 and handed a teller a demand note wrapped around his Century College identification card. Smith then stuffed the cash he obtained into his front pants’ pocket. Unbeknownst to Smith, however, the money the teller gave him concealed a dye pack, which exploded after he left the premises.

Responding to the robbery, St. Paul Police officers spotted Smith, stained with red dye, about three blocks from the bank, near the intersection of Ruth Street and Interstate 94. He surrendered without incident.

Smith faces a potential maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for his crime. Judge Rosenbaum will determine his sentence at a future date. This case is the result of an investigation by the St. Paul Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa D. Kirkpatrick.

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