Genesee County Man Sentenced to 2-20 Years in Hartland Bank Robbery

HOWELL — A Flint area man has been sentenced to 2-20 years in prison for the robbery of the in Hartland in 2007. Sentencing of Jason Patterson took place Thursday in Livingston County Circuit Court before Judge Michael Hatty.

"You've got a very long criminal history for a guy who is 27 years old," Hatty told Patterson before sentencing him. "It's my hope you learn something from this." 

The maximum sentence on the bank robbery charge is life in prison. 

State sentencing guidelines call for a minimum sentence of three years for bank robbery conviction. However, Hatty adhered to the minimum- two-year sentence agreement between Patterson's attorney and the Livingston County Prosecutor's Office.  

Patterson was represented by Howell attorney Mack Spickard, who asked for a more lenient sentence, saying Patterson had cooperated fully with police.  

Spickard declined comment after the court proceeding. 

Patterson will also be required to pay $5,247 in restitution along with court costs and a $130 criminal victim fee. He was given credit for 168 days already served behind bars.

Patterson had pleaded guilty to the bank robbery charge on July 8. 

His accomplice in the crime, Keith A. Williams, 31, of Grand Blanc, in prison in Livingston County Circuit Court in August by retired Judge A. John Pikkarainen. Patterson was also scheduled to be sentenced at that time but it was adjourned until Thursday. 

Livingston County Sheriff Bob Bezotte has said that it took four exhaustive years of police work to solve the case.

"There was some good police on the case, by our own department and other police departments," Bezotte said. "It brings closure to the case."

Bezotte has also said that Livingston is in an enviable position among counties in that it has "a 100 percent success rate" on convictions in bank robberies. 

On the day of the robbery, two bandits entered the TCF Bank branch on M-59 east of US-23 wearing "hoodies," ball caps and sunglasses. One of them handed a note to the teller demanding money. The pair escaped with more than $5,000 in cash.

The case remained open for about four years , when a citizen viewed a Sheriff's Department website surveillance video taken at the next to the bank. The video showed one of the men shoplifting a pair of sunglasses from the drug store a short time before the robbery.