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Iowa women who faked armed bank robbery get prison time suspended

A judge has suspended prison sentences for two women who pleaded guilty in connection to a staged Sioux City bank robbery.
Heaven Zevenbergen (left) and Angelica Perez, photo from KSFY

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A judge has suspended prison sentences for two women who pleaded guilty in connection to a staged Sioux City bank robbery.

Heaven Zevenbergen and Angelica Perez, both 19 years old, had been sentenced to five years in prison in February after pleading guilty to second-degree theft as part of a plea agreement.

Prosecutors said Perez entered a Security National Bank branch at a Hy-Vee supermarket last August in a disguise, and warned Zevenbergen via a note that she was armed. Prosecutors say Zevenbergen, then a teller at the bank, knew Perez and gave her $10,000.

Zevenbergen is a former valedictorian at her South Dakota high school and graduated with Perez. The two lived together in Sioux City at the time of the robbery, reports KSFY.

District Judge Jeffrey Neary suspended the remainder of their sentences Tuesday, and placed them on five years of probation. Neary said the original prison terms were meant to be “shock sentencing,” which is used to deter offenders from future criminal behavior. He said he always intended to reconsider the women’s sentences.

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