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JACKSON, Wyo. (AP) - A Utah man accused of robbing a Jackson, Wyo., bank claims he gave the money away to poor people and intends to mount a "Robin Hood" defense when he goes on trial later this month.
Corey Allan Donaldson, 39, an Australian citizen who was living in Sandy before his arrest, is accused of taking $147,000 from U.S. Bank on New Year's Eve.
The Jackson Hole Daily reported Thursday that Donaldson mailed a statement to the newspaper saying that he'll argue that the federal government is "not innocent enough" to prosecute him because it helps foster corruption and greed in the nation's banks. He also referred to himself as Robin Hood.
I regret that laws had to be broken to do what I did but there are people with a roof over their heads right now because of what I did.
–Corey Allan Donaldson
Prosecutors say Donaldson had threatened to detonate explosives around the bank if he didn't get the money. He previously told the newspaper he had given away the money.
"I regret that laws had to be broken to do what I did but there are people with a roof over their heads right now because of what I did," he said in an earlier telephone call to the paper.
Police have said $16,000 was found in his possession when he was arrested in late January in Clinton, Utah.
Donaldson is representing himself. The trial starts April 29 in federal court in Cheyenne.
Information from: Jackson Hole (Wyo.) News And Guide
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