are tuition costs a reason for bank robbery ?

[AR182]

apparently not...

i tried working but to each his own...:shrug:


Robbers: Tuition was motive
Students plead guilty, face 20 years
BY SHARON COOLIDGE

Andrew Butler should be a junior at the University of Toledo, where the theater major would be starring in school plays, maybe one day headed to Hollywood or Broadway.

Christopher Avery should be a sophomore at the University of Cincinnati, an engineering major with a lucrative career ahead.

Instead, the men are going to prison for at least 20 years because they tried to raise tuition money with two armed holdups last summer.

Avery, 22, of College Hill, and Butler, 20, of Milford, pleaded guilty Monday in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court to two charges of aggravated robbery and six charges of kidnapping.

Butler pleaded guilty to an additional charge of vandalism stemming from damage done to the Hamilton County Justice Center after his arrest.

"Why?" Judge Steve Martin asked the men, who had no criminal records. "You're in college, I don't understand."

Both men cited tuition.

Butler said tuition went up so his scholarships and financial aid were not enough.

"I was stressed out," he said. "I needed more money for college."

Avery said an internship at Kroger fell through, leaving no money for summer classes.

"I was strapped for cash," he said. "I thought I had nothing to lose."

The men said they faced two options: steal the money or drop out.

That's when the two friends hatched a plan to get the cash they needed.

A year of school at the University of Cincinnati costs roughly $9,400. It's less at Toledo, but still almost $7,000.

Armed and wearing black masks, the men first tried to rob Ohio Checkcashers on Reading Road in Mount Auburn on July 16.

They couldn't penetrate the store's security, even after firing four shots at the bullet-resistant glass, Hamilton County Assistant Prosecutor Brian Goodyear said.

They ran off and tried again the next afternoon, this time at Valley Central Savings Bank on Benson Street in Reading, Goodyear said.

Numerous customers were in the bank when the men stormed in, again masked and armed, Goodyear said.

They escaped with more than $130,000, Goodyear said.

They stashed the money at home, but then got sloppy, according to Goodyear.

They were caught switching cars in Lincoln Heights.

A witness who thought they were acting suspiciously called police, Goodyear said.

Prosecutors agreed Monday to a 20-year prison term for both, though Martin is not bound by that agreement at sentencing Dec. 27.

The men are being held in the Hamilton County Justice Center without bond.

 

[saint]

I am by no means condoning their actions, but how much was your tuition in comparison to tuition now AR? As I said, it's obviously a ridiculous reason for their actions but I'm not sure if you can understand the feeling of debt many students have to take on unless you yourself have been there.

 

[AR182]

I am by no means condoning their actions, but how much was your tuition in comparison to tuition now AR? As I said, it's obviously a ridiculous reason for their actions but I'm not sure if you can understand the feeling of debt many students have to take on unless you yourself have been there.

that's true...i was trying to be funny, but apparently it failed....

i did work 3 jobs to cover my costs...but if they couldn't afford the costs then perhaps they then should have tried less expensive schools or tried working full time to try to accumulate enough cash to cover expenses & try school at a later date...

 

[vinnie]

THEY SHOULD HAVE JUST CHARGE IT TO THEIR NEIGHBORS :shrug:




PHILADELPHIA - They were young, rich and in love. But the jet-setters financed their fun on the credit cards of unsuspecting neighbors in their high-end apartment building and other identity-fraud victims, police said Monday.


Jocelyn Kirsch, 22, and Edward K. Anderton, 25, were charged Friday with identity theft, forgery, unlawful use of a computer and a laundry list of other counts.

Their fraud scheme, estimated at $100,000 this year alone, paid for jaunts to Paris, London and Hawaii and other luxury perks, including Kirsch's stop at a tony salon for $1,700 worth of hair extensions, police said.

"They were two young people that were given many gifts in life," said Detective Terry Sweeney, who spoke of the couple's supportive families and private schooling. "And the very best thing they could do was victimize other people."

It was not immediately clear if the couple had hired attorneys. Neither has a listed telephone number in Philadelphia.

Police started investigating Nov. 19 after one of the couple's neighbors reported that she thought her identity had been stolen. A day later, the woman heard from a local UPS store about a waiting package, although she had not ordered anything.

Police kept an eye on the store and arrested Anderton and Kirsch on Friday when they walked in to pick up the package, detectives said.

A weekend search of the couple's $3,000-a-month apartment turned up a cache of tech toys: four computers, two printers, a scanner and an industrial machine that makes ID cards. Police also found $17,500 in cash, dozens of credit cards and fake drivers' licenses, and keys to unlock many of the apartments and mailboxes in their upscale Rittenhouse Square apartment building. Police are not yet sure how they got the keys.

"They were like a parasite that infected that building," Sweeney said.

The search also turned up a book titled, "The Art of Cheating: A Nasty Little Book for Tricky Little Schemers and Their Hapless Victims," as well as a newspaper article on "How to Spot Fake IDs."

Police believe the scheme dates back at least two years and involves victims beyond the apartment house. A slideshow found on one of their computers shows the couple's high-flying travels: kissing in front of the Eiffel Tower, sporting matching red swim wear at a ritzy oceanfront resort; and dining at an elegant restaurant.

Anderton was recently fired from a job as a financial analyst that had paid for at least his initial stay in the apartment, Lt. George Ondrejka said. Kirsch is a student at Drexel University.

Sweeney fears that police are not finished finding victims. So far, they know of five victims, one of whom was taken for $30,000.

Kirsch's father arrived from Winston-Salem, N.C., to post her $25,000 bond Sunday. Anderton, who hails from Washington state, posted bond Monday, police said.

 

[saint]

that's true...i was trying to be funny, but apparently it failed....

i did work 3 jobs to cover my costs...but if they couldn't afford the costs then perhaps they then should have tried less expensive schools or tried working full time to try to accumulate enough cash to cover expenses & try school at a later date...

yeah i figured...i guess the funny part is that you've got to think your admissions process is failing if you can admit people this stupid into your college!!