SECOND MAN SENTENCED IN SALINA BANK ROBBERY

TOPEKA, KAN. – A second man was sentenced Tuesday in the Dec. 19, 2005, bank robbery at Bennington State Bank in Salina.

Vilaysack Siharath, 20, was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison. He appeared for sentencing before District Judge Sam A. Crow.

“The defendant also was ordered to pay $13,547 in restitution,” said U.S. Attorney Eric Melgren.

Siharath pleaded guilty in August to one count of bank robbery. In his plea, Siharath admitted that he and his accomplice, Tieng Kham Noy Singanonh,
robbed the bank at 200 S. Ninth Street in Salina. During the robbery, Singanonh vaulted the teller counter and sprayed pepper spray at employees. The two left the bank in a vehicle together but Siharath got out of the car when a dye pack exploded. Siharath had red dye on his clothing when he was arrested soon after that while walking down a street near the bank.

Video surveillance from the Harrah's Casino on the Potawatomie Reservation taken the night of the robbery was part of the evidence against the defendants. It showed Singanonh and others attempting to launder bills that had been stained with dye during the robbery by running them through gambling machines at the casino. About $400 in dye-stained bills was recovered from the machines.

Tieng Kham Noy Singanonh pleaded guilty to one count of bank robbery and was sentenced in September to 51 months in federal prison. Melgren commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Hough for their work on the case.

##