Accused bank robber gets one year of probation

One year for child neglect while robbery charge is dismissed.

A La Crosse County court plea deal for Shane Sherburn in a case that involved drugs and a bank heist and threats from a drug dealer and lots and lots of needles.

Sherburn, 38, said he robbed the Altra Credit Union at Festival on Copeland Ave. in La Crosse last May to get money to pay off his heroin dealer, 41-year-old Rodney Simmons from Illinois.

Sherburn maintained that Simmons had threatened to kill Sherburn’s children if he didn’t get him the money. Simmons was also the getaway driver although he denied being part of the robbery.  

A weapon was never visible during the robbery, though Sherburn implied violence with a note.

Sherburn got away with close to $900.

Police identified both men with surveillance video and later staked out Sherburn’s home, arresting him three days later.

In the home, police found three children–including a toddler–amid garbage, dirty laundry and hundreds of used syringes.

In exchange for the charge of robbery getting dismissed, Sherburn pleaded guilty to a child neglect charge.

On Wednesday, Judge Elliott Levine ordered him to serve a year of probation and seemed to, in part, excuse his actions.

“You were given an Hobson’s choice,” Levine told Sherburn during sentencing. “You were protecting your child which is ultimately I think what most people would do.”

Simmons has yet to be sentenced for his part in the crime and is currently on the run.

Sherburn’s wife Tenesha has a plea hearing scheduled for next week in the case.