SENIOR CITIZEN CRIME

(Lubbock, Texas) Last August 12th, 91-year-old Red Rountree went to the First American Bank in Abilene, Texas, gave the teller a large envelope with "ROBBERY" written on it and said, "Hurry up or you will get hurt." He left and was apprehended within 30 minutes.

Last week,

Rountree, wearing shackles on his ankles, shuffled slowly through the courtroom and balanced himself with a cane. He wore headphones plugged into the courtroom's sound system to better hear the proceedings.

When U.S. District Judge Sam Cummings asked for his plea, Rountree mistakenly answered, "Not guilty." His attorney then touched his arm, and Rountree said, "I mean guilty. I'm sorry."

Sentencing will occur at a later time and will probably take into consideration that the robbery was the third for Rountree in the past five years. He was previously convicted for committing bank robberies in Mississippi and Florida. A sentence of twenty years in prison is possible for his most recent crime.

This case has to be a dilemma for the court. Any significant prison time would, in effect, be a death sentence. It seems certain that other, alternative punishment is being considered.

Also, his story is worthy of comment. First, it just doesn't seem possible that a bent-over 91-year-old man, needing a cane to walk and hard-of-hearing, would be able to sufficiently intimidate the bank employees to rob them.

Second, Red Rountree should fire his lawyer, change his plea to "not guilty" and claim he did the robbery because of the high cost of health care and that he can't afford his prescription drugs. This action would prompt the AARP and the Democrat Party, as a minimum, to aid in his defense. As a full-blown political trial, he would be guaranteed a walk.

Lastly, he'll probably never successfully rob any banks in the future. Although he was caught this last time because the teller took down his license number, it's rumored that knowing his license number wasn't necessary since he was stopped for going 35 MPH on the Interstate with his right turn signal blinking and his seat belt hanging out the car door.