| Accused Calhoun bank robber Richard D. Vance, 22, claims he had nothing to do with the robbery at Arnoldsburg where a hooded man entered the bank and held it up with a hunting knife, according to Spencer Newspapers.
Judge David W. Nibert has sentenced Vance to prison for violating his probation on a Roane County larceny charge.
He will serve 1-to-10 years in the state correctional system, with credit for days he has already served.
Roane officials extradited Vance from San Antonio, Texas to face the probation violation.
Nibert placed Vance on three years probation on a charge of receiving stolen property. In that case, Vance admitted he had taken some guns he knew were stolen in Roane County, according to Spencer Newspapers.
Vance was represented by defense attorney John Oshoway at the Roane hearing, during which he denied any involvement in the bank hold-up and asked Nibert to place him on home confinement instead of sending him to jail.
Vance was being held without bail on the probation violation charge, with his bond in Calhoun County set at $90,000 related to the bank robbery charge.
Downey said it was not a good idea to release Vance, indicating to the court that Vance fled to Texas, not far from Mexico.
Vance said he went to Texas because he had family there.
Judge Nibert has also ordered Vance to make restitution to a victim, Don Smith, the owner of stolen guns taken from his Parkersburg Road home in a 2008 burglary.
Vance has been scheduled twice for a probable cause hearing in Calhoun Magistrate Court on the bank robbery charges, but in both cases he did not have an attorney.
A third preliminary hearing is set for Monday at 10:30 a.m.
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