A Van Buren County man who set off an anthrax scare last June during a Battle Creek bank robbery was sentenced Wednesday to 4-½ years in prison.
Douglas Scott Wolthuis, 50, appeared for sentencing in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids. Judge Robert Holmes Bell also ordered that he pay $60,000 in restitution.
In exchange for a guilty plea in the June 9 robbery at Chase Bank in Battle Creek, federal prosecutors dismissed a second bank robbery charge for an April, 2015 heist in Kalamazoo.
Nearly $62,000 was taken in the two robberies.
The Lawton man was arrested shortly after the June 9 robbery which included the anthrax scare.
The first robbery occurred about 10 a.m. April 22, 2015, at Fifth Third Bank on Stadium Drive in Kalamazoo County's Oshtemo Township. Wolthuis entered the bank wearing a gray wig and mask.
He passed the teller a note demanding $80,000, stating he had a bomb. Wolthuis was carrying two bags and had clear plastic tubing running between his face and jacket, court records show. He got away with $60,000.
About seven weeks later, Wolthuis entered Chase Bank in Battle Creek's Fort Custer Industrial Park and told employees he was carrying anthrax, court records show. He wore a mask and a white, protective jumpsuit and had a briefcase marked “Pest Control,’’ court records show.
Wolthuis handed the bank manager a note stating that he was carrying anthrax. He fled with $1,812.
Wolthuis was arrested within minutes of the 10:12 a.m. robbery, but police, concerned he might have the deadly bacteria anthrax, spent hours preparing to collect a small jar from the getaway vehicle.
Skyline Drive (M-37) was closed between Dickman Road and Columbia Avenue because of the potential hazardous materials situation.
The busy road was reopened after about five hours when police determined the substance was harmless.
Wolthuis told police the jar contained a protein-supplement power that he used as a body builder.