GUILTY OH - Family held hostage, bank manager forced to rob Ontario bank, 6 Nov 2015

The manager of a Key Bank branch in Ontario, Ohio told police that his family was held hostage while he was forced to steal money from the bank.

Brian McConnell said he was forced to drive to the location on Lex-Springmill Road Friday morning, steal money and bring it back to his home.

When the man got back to his house on Millsboro Road, his family was released, according to police.

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Two people have been arrested after police said that they held a bank manager and his family hostage overnight and forced him to help them rob a bank.

Taylor Crisman and Chris Hill were arrested after a traffic stop in Galion, Ohio Wednesday, the Cleveland Division of the FBI reports.

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According to federal grand jury records, Crisman and Hill were each indicted on 11 counts of bank robbery, possession of ransom money, hostage taking and brandishing a firearm in relation to the commission of a felony.

The grand jury further indicted Hill on intimidation of a witness charges...

Hill and Crisman are set to be arraigned at 10:30 a.m. Jan. 12 in Cleveland.

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Chris Hill, 24, pleaded guilty Thursday at the Carl B. Stokes U.S. Courthouse to all 12 charges he was facing related to the incident.

Hill will be sentenced Jan. 19 by Judge Donald Nugent. In exchange for his plea and sparing the family the trauma of going through a trial, federal attorneys recommended a 25-year prison term. He was looking at a possible life sentence.

"The 25-year sentence detailed in the plea agreement speaks to the horrific nature of these crimes. They terrorized a family at gunpoint all in an effort to get money," U.S. Attorney Carole Rendon said. "The sentence is absolutely appropriate to protect our community from this violent defendant and to ensure justice for the victims of these terrible crimes.”

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Taylor Crisman, 19, entered a guilty plea to an 11-count federal indictment on Thursday at the Carl B. Stokes U.S. Courthouse. He could be given up to life in prison on Feb. 2 at his sentencing hearing.

There is no agreed-upon sentence in Crisman’s case.

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Sarah Garrett, 42, the third defendant in the case, pleaded guilty late last week at the Carl B. Stokes U.S. Courthouse to possession of ransom money and misprision of a felony.

While at her job with Marion County Family Court, Garrett looked up addresses through Ohio Law Enforcement Gateway, which allows law enforcement to review public records such as addresses and phone numbers.

Sentencing guidelines indicate Garrett could receive two to two-and-a-half years in prison.

"We'll be arguing for the high end," Barr said. "Sentencing is up to the judge."

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Hill and Crisman have sentencing dates scheduled, but Barr said she will work with the court and defense attorneys to try to have all three defendants sentenced on the same day at the end of January or the beginning of February.

She wants the family, who will be in attendance and will give victim impact statements, to have to make only one trip to Cleveland.

"They'll be in a position of power," Barr said. "These people have admitted what they have done and what they have caused. This gives them a bit of empowerment that they wouldn't have had at trial."

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Three individuals have been sentenced to prison in connection with the 2015 kidnapping of a bank manager and his family and the subsequent robbery of the victim's bank in a city just outside of Mansfield.

Taylor Crisman, 19, of Galion was sentenced to 37 years in prison, the U.S. Attorney of the Northern District of Ohio's office said. Crisman was the mastermind behind the November 2015 robbery and kidnapping.

Crisman's accomplices also received prison sentences, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

Chris Hill, 24, also of Galion, was sentenced to 25 years in prison, and 42-year-old Sarah J. Garrett, of Bucyrus, received a 2 1/2-year sentence.

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