Bank robbery accomplice gets 5 years in prison

ALBION – The woman who admitted to driving the getaway car during a bank robbery in Albion last July 2 was sentenced to five years in state prison today.

Elyse A. Hoffer, 22, of Rochester apologized in court to the Bank of America employees, her family and the community.

Hoffer was the girlfriend of Jeremy J. Rothmund, who robbed the Bank of America on July 2. Rothmund went into the bank with a false bomb. He robbed the bank of $18,000. He was sentenced to 15 years in state prison last week.

Hoffer in December pleaded guilty to first-degree robbery.  She had the getaway car behind Freeze-Dry Foods near the railroad tracks. The couple was spotted by an Albion resident who gave the vehicle ID to police. The two were stopped and arrested in Holley.

Hoffer in December pleaded guilty to first-degree robbery.

In other cases in county court today:

Alejandro Mendoza, 28, was sentenced by Judge James Punch to five more years in state prison for assault. Mendoza was an inmate at Orleans Correctional Facility when he allegedly used a razor to slash the neck, stomach and finger of another inmate.

That inmate needed 12 stitches for his neck and five stitches for his cut finger, the District Attorney’s Office stated.

Mendoza is currently in Southport Correctional Facility in Pine City. He is a Mexican citizen without legal documents to be in the United States, the DA’s Office said.

Jairo Chavez was sentenced to two years in state prison for two counts of third-degree rape. Chavez was living in Orleans County as a farmworker when he allegedly twice had sex with a 15-year-old girl who became pregnant. Chavez was 26 at the time. He also is a prior felon.

After prison, Chavez will be subject to 15 years of post-release supervision.