A Fort Dodge man who allegedly robbed a bank in Scranton this past February is due to be sentenced in federal court.

Twenty-seven-year-old Zachary Wailes robbed Peoples Bank in Scranton on February 25th and stole over $20,000 in cash. The initial investigation was conducted by the Greene County Sheriff’s Office in collaboration with several other law enforcement entities, including the FBI. Then in April, Wailes was federally indicted and the local charges he was facing were dismissed in light of the federal charges. Soon after, Wailes pled guilty to robbery and theft. 

Greene County Attorney Thomas Laehn says while he essentially dropped his case against Wailes, he believes having the federal government take over the case is no small feat.

“Federal prosecutors have a 100-percent win rate. But that’s not necessarily because they are prosecutors. They won’t take a case unless it is a slam dunk.”

Laehn feels the reason the federal government took the case was due to the outstanding investigative work by the Greene County Sheriff’s Office.

“I was told by the (U.S. Southern) District Attorney’s Office that it was a first-rate investigation, that our law enforcement officers did excellent work, and that they were very pleased to take this case. That’s a reflection on the quality of the work our sheriff’s office did.”

Wailes pled guilty to federal charges on June 1st. A second suspect, Tyler Mattingly of Carroll has also pled guilty to Class C Felony for first degree theft from the Greene County Sheriff’s Office. As per the plea agreement, Mattingly admitted to his role of aiding and abetting Wailes during the robbery incident. He has not yet been sentenced.