The getaway driver who took a wounded bank robber to a hospital following a University City bank hold-up has been sentenced to 20 years in state prison.
The sentence for Robert Anthony Hodge, 29, was one year longer than the 19-year sentence given to another robber, Laura Joyce Elshire, 43, on Feb. 20 for the June 11, 2013 hold-up of Wells Fargo Bank on Genesee Avenue. Hodge pleaded guilty to six bank robberies, including another bank on Genesee Avenue in La Jolla. The other banks were located in San Diego, El Cajon, Santee and Del Mar.
San Diego Superior Court Judge Peter Deddeh ordered Hodge to pay $30,000 to five Wells Fargo branches and $3,600 to a U.S. Bank branch he robbed. Hodge received credits of 523 days in jail.
Hodge pleaded guilty Jan. 13, but his sentencing was delayed after he tried unsuccessfully to withdraw his guilty pleas. Another lawyer was appointed to study whether a motion to withdraw the guilty pleas had any standing, but on Oct. 3, the new attorney determined it had no merit.
Hodge, who has an assault conviction from 2003, could have received a maximum term of 29 years in prison. Deputy District Attorney Chandelle Konstanzer asked for 25 years. Hodge drove Casey Alan Wilson, 28, to a hospital after Wilson was shot in the face. He was sentenced a year ago to five years in prison after he pleaded guilty to two robberies.
Wilson was serving his sentencing at an Avenal State Prison, but was recently transferred back to San Diego county jail when he was charged with injuring another inmate, 26, on Nov. 23, 2013. Wilson has a preliminary hearing set for Oct. 28.
Elshire’s longer sentence was handed down because she has a criminal record for attempted murder and possession of razor blades while in jail. – Neal Putnam