The man who claimed April 1 that he was robbed while working at a Grand Forks motel pleaded guilty today to taking about $10,000 from the motel. Ricky Stephens, 29, faces a possible maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and $20,000 fine when he's sentenced in November.
Stephens was working at the Budget Inn Express when he called police to report he had been robbed at gunpoint.
The motel's security video showed a man apparently holding up Stephens. The police investigation turned up a string of inside-job thefts from the motel at 3400 Gateway Drive that were traced to Stephens while he was working. Police said Stephens took customers' cash for rooms but never entered the transaction in the motel's computer.
Only about $100 was taken from the till during the robbery, which may have been staged, police said. But more than $10,000 was found missing from the motel's receipts. Stephens had worked there about a year.
Stephens left town the day after the robbery and didn't cooperate much with the investigation. He was arrested in early June near Tampa, Fla.
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He has been in the Grand Forks County jail since and remained there today after his hearing.
He pleaded not guilty in August and had a pre-trial hearing scheduled today in state district court. But instead he entered an open guilty plea, with no deal, a prosecutor said.
The judge ordered a pre-sentence investigation.
Police earlier said it appeared the motel robbery April 1 may have been staged but that the second man in the video remained at large.
Reach Lee at (701) 780-1237; (800) 477-6572, ext. 237; or send e-mail to slee@gfherald.com .
