A 30-year-old Crownsville State Hospital patient who thought he was going to a party but found himself in a botched hold-up says he was not responsible for his actions.
Francis DeMay of Ferndale pleaded not criminally responsible Monday to conspiracy to commit armed robbery for his part in a Feb. 25 attempt to rob the Fort Meade Community Federal Credit Union.
Judge Raymond G. Thieme Jr. ordered Mr. Demay returned to Crownsville for evaluation and treatment.
Charles Pettit, 42, a supervisor at the psychiatric hospital, and Mark Hodski, 33, a patient, pleaded guilty in Anne Arundel Circuit Court last month to one count of conspiracy to commit armed robbery. They are to be sentenced Jan. 11.
Police say Pettit approached Hodski sometime after September 1991 and asked him if he "ever wanted to knock off a bank." Pettit, a supervisor in a patient-training program, persuaded Hodski to take part in a robbery. He promised to supply a gun and a hospital van, with its state logo hidden by a magnetic sign, police said.
Hodski later recruited Mr. DeMay, police said.
Mr. DeMay was told he was "going to a party" when he entered the van and learned of the hold-up only when the trio was en route, said Assistant Public Defender Robert Waldman.
The three drove the van, disguised as a florist delivery truck, to the credit union and parked in front. While they sat and discussed their plan, employees closed the credit union for the day.
The would-be robbers returned to Crownsville. The gun was found a month later, after a patient reported it to security guards.