One of three men linked to an armed robbery of a coin store in Grand Chute last summer has been sentenced for the crime, which involved a female disguise and a wrench.
Michael Thorpe, 40, of Appleton, was sentenced in Outagamie County Circuit Court to 16 years in prison followed by 11 years of extended supervision.
According to court records, on Aug. 10, 2024, an employee at Affordable Rare Coins, 402 W. Northland Ave., was struck over the head with a wrench by a man wearing a blonde wig, a black dress and pink shoes. The man then stole around $30,000 worth of merchandise.
The suspect was later identified as Beau Wastel, of Wausaukee. In a police interview, Wastel said another man involved, Cory Schmitz, of Appleton, introduced him to Thorpe, who said he had an easy “lick” to get the three of them thousands of dollars, according to a criminal complaint.
Thorpe is accused of making the plan for the robbery and driving Wastel to and from the coin store.
What happened?
The following information is from the criminal complaint:
What are the specifics of Thorpe’s sentence?
At a trial in May, a jury found Thorpe guilty of three offenses: armed robbery, substantial battery with intent to cause bodily harm and criminal damage to property — all as party to a crime.
On the count of armed robbery, Outagamie County Circuit Court Judge Mark Schroeder sentenced Thorpe to 15 years in prison followed by 10 years of extended supervision. On the count of substantial battery with intent to cause bodily harm, he sentenced Thorpe to one year in prison and one year of extended supervision. Each was ordered to be served consecutively to each other, according to court records.
On the count of criminal damage to property, the only misdemeanor offense, Schroeder gave Thorpe a concurrent sentence of nine months in jail.
Where do the other cases stand?
Wastel faces the same three charges Thorpe was convicted of, as well as two counts of felony bail jumping. He has a plea hearing scheduled for 1:45 p.m. Aug. 27. He is currently incarcerated at Oshkosh Correctional Institution.
Schmitz additionally faces the same three charges, as well as one count of felony bail jumping and one count of misdemeanor bail jumping. He has a pre-trial conference set for 10 a.m. Sept. 11.
Contact Kelli Arseneau at 920-213-3721 or karseneau@gannett.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, at @ArseneauKelli.
This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Man gets prison time for role in Grand Chute heist with wrench, female disguise
Reporting by Kelli Arseneau, Appleton Post-Crescent / Appleton Post-Crescent
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