A federal appeals panel has upheld the conviction of a rural McCook man who robbed a southwest Nebraska credit union at gunpoint.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - A federal appeals panel has upheld the conviction of a rural McCook man who robbed a southwest Nebraska credit union at gunpoint.
An 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel on Wednesday affirmed the conviction earlier this year of 37-year-old Joel Witt. Witt pleaded guilty in 2011 to bank robbery and brandishing a firearm during the robbing of Pioneer Community Federal Credit Union in Palisade. He was sentenced in February to 13 years in federal prison.
Witt appealed, arguing that a gun and money from the robbery found in his car by a state trooper were the results of an illegal search and should have been kept out of evidence.
But the appeals panel found that the traffic stop and search of Witt's car were lawful and upheld his conviction.
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