Bank robbery accomplice may get a deal

Hoffer

ALBION – The girlfriend of a bank robber has been offered a deal that could result in up to 25 years in state prison.

Elyse A. Hoffer, 22, of Rochester allegedly drove the getaway car when her boyfriend Jeremy J. Rothmund robbed the Bank of America in Albion on July 2. Rothmund went into the bank with a false bomb. He robbed the bank of $18,000.

Hoffer 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.

Rothmund confessed to the crime during an Oct. 21 court appearance at the Orleans County Courthouse. Both he and Hoffer have been charged with first-degree robbery. They also face charges for two bank robberies in the town of Greece.

Orleans County District Attorney Joe Cardone has offered a plea deal to Hoffer that she face one sentence, rather than three sentences of up to 25 years each. If she was prosecuted for all three, with the sentences added up, she could face up to 75 in state prison.

Cardone has offered that she be sentenced to a maximum of 25 years for the three robberies. Hoffer, who appeared in county court today, wants to talk over the deal with her attorney. Cardone will also confer with the District Attorney’s Office in Monroe County about the case.

Cardone told Orleans County Court Judge James Punch that as part of the plea deal, Hoffer’s cooperation would be needed as the DA prosecutes Rothmund.

“We’re just asking for the truth, your honor,” Cardone told Judge Punch.