was laid off from his job as a yacht builder earlier this year. The robberies started soon after

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.king5.com/topstories/stories/NW_101609WAB_fenter_farmer-bank-robber-JM.2227fb8c1.html

Port Townsend farmer ID'd as serial bank robber

10:50 PM PDT on Friday, October 16, 2009

By CHRIS INGALLS / KING5 News

TACOMA, Wash. - A Port Townsend farmer has been charged in a Tacoma bank robbery, as FBI agents investigate whether he could be responsible for several more bank heists on the West Coast.

Michael Fenter was arrested last week in the foiled Tacoma robbery.

Agents say Fenter threatened the teller with what he said was bomb. Tacoma police surrounded the bank before he could escape.

Agents say Fenter led a double-life, according to agents, who charged Fenter after his arrest.

Fenter and his wife operate the Compass Rose Farm, which grows organic produce and was featured in an August article in the The Leader newspaper of Port Townsend. The paper says Fenter - a father of three - was laid off from his job as a yacht builder earlier this year. The string of robberies started soon after.

[KharmaTrain]

1. A Modern-Day Dillinger

The Depression spawned a lot of criminals...including the growth of the mafia due to the economic conditions. We're seeing rises in crime and violence in many cities...IMHO a byproduct of people out of work and hope...it's everyone for themselves.

Another similarity...the biggest bank robbers then and now have titles and bank names after them...

Cheers...

[FreakinDJ]

6. You have to remember 2 things about Dillinger and alike

The Banks lost everyone's savings and THEN STILL FORECLOSED ON THE HOMES AND FARMS

Not only were Dillinger, Bonnie and Clyde, and alike "Not the sharpest tool in the shed" for the most part people were cheering them on for providing a little pay-back to the dishonest banks

[coalition_unwilling]

7. N.B. Organized crime (your "the mafia") existed before

the Great Depresrsion, chiefly to supply the black-market economy spawned by Prohibition.

[Heidi]

2. Desperate people sometimes do desperate things.

I'm not excusing bank robbery, but there are a lot of things folks will do in desperate times that they would not ordinarily dream of doing.

[ipaint]

3. And the bank robbers at the top are getting millions in bonuses. n/t

[Possumpoint]

4. Don't Even Go There

That's all been approved by both the current and past Secretaries of Treasury, Congress and Presidents. Any criticism of their actions may get you investigated under the Patriot Act.

[geckosfeet]

5. The robberies started long before the current administration and the bailouts.

The fact that they have been allowed to continue is criminal.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

8. A rose by any other name.... sad series of events there. n/t

[lumberjack_jeff]

9. Life is full of Irony

The yacht builder he used to work for conducts its sales (with literal briefcases full of cash) just offshore to avoid paying state sales taxes. The guy probably could have robbed dozens of banks and still stolen less money than the company he used to work for.

But "the yacht company is a vitally important part of the local economy so we need to throw money at it". Bla bla bla.