Judge allows more time in robbery case

YOUNGSTOWN -- A federal judge has granted a request by the government to extend the time limit in which prosecutors must file indictments against three men accused of bank robbery in connection with the May 22 theft of $900,000 from a Loomis Fargo van.
Michael T. Green, 24, of Austintown, and Youngstown men Anthony M. Simmons, 34, and Charles K. Anderson, 45, are being held without bond pending resolution of their cases.
The men were arrested May 22 and their cases bound over to a federal grand jury May 28.
Federal prosecutors had 30 days from the arrest dates to seek indictment until Magistrate Judge George J. Limbert last week granted the extension. Federal investigators say the men stole the van from the lot of the McDonald's restaurant at 900 E. Western Reserve Road near Interstate 680 in Boardman.
Green drove the van for the company. He and the others are accused of being part of a plan to hold another Loomis Fargo worker at gunpoint during the robbery.
Green first told an investigator that he was a victim with his partner during the crime, but later admitted that he planned the robbery with the two other men. Simmons also has admitted his role to federal authorities. Simmons is a longtime friend of Green's, investigators said. Anderson is his stepfather.