Federal judge gives bank robber 'gift': 3 years in prison

Facing a potentially lengthy prison sentence, convicted bank robber Kirbey Ingold admitted to a federal judge through tears Tuesday that she was scared.

The 24-year-old mother of a 6-year-old girl offered an apology to the bank tellers she threatened to shoot last October, and she told U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin, “I’m asking for a chance to redeem myself.”

“I just need one chance, your honor, to make it right and be there for my baby,” Ingold said.

But Durkin told her she “scared two tellers to death” and a simple apology wouldn’t cut it. He sentenced Ingold to three years in prison — called it a “gift” — and reminded her what could have happened after she lied about having a gun in her pocket during the two robberies.

Security guards, for example, didn’t know she was lying.

“You could have gotten shot,” Durkin said, “and your daughter would have no mother.”

Ingold pleaded guilty in February to sticking up the PNC Bank in Skokie on Oct. 7 and a BMO Harris Bank in Wilmette a week later. She made off with $1,426 in the Skokie heist and $1,780 in Wilmette — roughly $3,200 total. James McGurk, her attorney, admitted to the judge Tuesday that was a “profound error” for a paltry sum.

“There are playoff tickets in this city being sold for more than that,” McGurk said.

But while McGurk sought a punishment that would have let Ingold return to raising her daughter, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jared Jodrey reminded the judge Ingold threatened the lives of two people.

During the first robbery, records show, she handed a teller a note that read, “This is a robbery. No sudden movements. Keep your hands were [sic] I can see them. I have a gun. I will shoot. NO DYE PACKS.”

During the second, she placed her right hand into the pocket of her sweat shirt and said, “Give me the money — I’m armed,” according to court documents.

“She scared the bank teller,” Jodrey said. “And got her money.”