Ohio students said high tuition prompted bank robbery

CINCINNATI – Two college students said the high cost of tuition led them to rob a bank.\nThe men pleaded guilty to two charges of aggravated robbery and six charges of kidnapping. They face 20 years in prison when sentenced Dec. 27.\nAndrew Butler, 20, a theater major at the University of Toledo, told Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Steve Martin on Monday that tuition increases outpaced his scholarships and financial aid.\nChristopher Avery, 22, who was studying engineering at the University of Cincinnati, said he could not pay for summer classes after an internship at a grocery store fell through.\n“I was strapped for cash,” Avery said. “I thought I had nothing to lose.”\nTuition at the University of Cincinnati runs about $9,400 a year; University of Toledo costs about $7,000 a year.\nArmed with guns and wearing masks, Butler and Avery made off with $130,000 from a crowded Valley Central Savings Bank in suburban Reading on July 17, said Assistant Hamilton County Prosecutor Brian Goodyear.\nAn attempt to rob a check-cashing business a day earlier was thwarted when the students couldn’t get through the business’ security system despite firing four shots at the bullet-resistant glass, Goodyear said.\nThe men were caught after trying to switch cars. A witness who thought they were acting suspiciously called police.\nBoth were being held in a county jail without bond.