Poor man to plead in ‘red-handed’ bank heist

Poor man to plead in ‘red-handed’ bank heist

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A southwestern Pennsylvania man who the FBI says was caught “red-handed” after a bank heist is scheduled to plead guilty in federal court.

Fifty-one-year-old Kurt Fritzel, of Charleroi, was stained by red dye when a pack of it exploded in the money he allegedly took from a Citizens Bank branch a few doors down from his apartment on Nov. 1, 2010.

Witnesses told the FBI the dye pack exploded in Fritzel’s hands creating a red cloud that led authorities to his apartment above a thrift and used furniture shop.

Senior FBI Agent David Hedges has called it a “pathetic case.”

Fritzel is scheduled to plead guilty and be sentenced about 10 a.m. today by Senior U.S. District Judge Gustave Diamond in Pittsburgh.