Shakopee Not Included in Charges Against 'Man in Black' Suspect

was not included in an indictment, unsealed Thursday afternoon, against a Minneapolis man suspected of being the “Man in Black” who hit more than a dozen Twin Cities banks.

Federal prosecutors charged Mark Edward Wetsch, 49, with 13 counts of armed bank robbery in connection with incidents dating back to March 9.

Those charges reflect the cases that investigators, prosecutors and a grand jury all agree there is strong evidence to support, said Jeanne Cooney, director of community relations for the District of Minnesota U.S. Attorney’s Office. There are about 20 other “banks of suspicion” that have not been charged, she said. Shakopee Police Chief Jeff Tate said recently he believes Wetsch to be the suspect in the Paragon Bank robbery.

The current indictment charges Wetsch with stealing about:

• $1,880 from the Rolling Hills Bank and Trust in Brewster on Jan. 3,

Wetsch faces a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison on each count. He remains in custody.

St. Peter police arrested Wetsch after the Jan. 3 Rolling Hils Bank robbery.  that it was investigating whether he was the “Man in Black” thought to have hit numerous banks in the Twin Cities—including  in Shakopee.

According to court documents, Wetsch admitted to the Brewster robbery and unspecified other robberies. Two days after his arrest, the Nobles County Attorney’s Office filed aggravated robbery, terroristic threats and theft charges against him in connection with the Brewster robbery.

Wetsch is a former nursing director of Sholom Home West in St. Louis Park who was convicted in 2005 of taking $1.4 million from the senior care facility. The invoice scheme occurred between September 1997 and January 2005.