[Free Beacon] A 71-year-old man who robbed a bank in Kansas City, Kan. to avoid living with his wife was sentenced to home confinement this week.A federal judge on Tuesday sentenced Lawrence John Ripple to six months of home confinement; three years of supervised probation, including 50 hours of community service; and ordered him to pay $227.27 to the bank he robbed, according to the Kansas City Star.
Ripple robbed the Bank of Labor in Kansas City in September. He walked into the bank and handed a note to the bank teller that said, "I have a gun, give me money." After the bank teller handed over $2,924, Ripple sat down in the bank lobby waiting to be arrested by police.
Court records said Ripple wrote the note in front of his wife, telling her he would rather be in jail than live at home with her.
Chekasha Ramsey, Ripple's public defender, told U.S. District Court Judge Carlos Murguia that the defendant suffered from depression after undergoing heart surgery in 2015.
"Ripple said that he felt better after finding the right medication and said prison would be more of a punishment for his wife than for him," the Star reported.