Two men were sentenced to a combined 27 years in prison Tuesday after pleading guilty to the June 23 robbery of U.S. Bank in Minford. Three women also pleaded guilty and are still awaiting sentencing.

According to Scioto County Prosecutor Mark Kuhn —Jim Meade, 28, and Crystal Caldwell, 27, each of Wyandotte, Mich., and Ryan Steffey, 25, Tiffany Binkoski, 18, and Amanda Nadaeu, 23, each of Jacksonville, Fla., each entered a guilty plea Tuesday before Judge Howard Harcha in the Scioto County Court of Common Pleas.

Kuhn said the defendants wanted to plead guilty rather than face the jury trial scheduled for Sept. 8.

During a pretrial conference Tuesday, Scioto County Sheriff’s detectives said the five hatched their plan to rob the bank during a card game the night before the robbery. They had planned to rob the bank and then go to Cedar Point park.

Investigators from the sheriff’s office and the FBI said Steffey and Meade were each armed with a handgun with they entered the bank at 9 a.m. June 23. They pulled hoods tight over their faces and ordered the bank employees to lay face down on the floor. They then took cash from the tellers’ drawers and fled to a van waiting outside. Nadaeu, Binkoski and Caldwell were in the van, investigators said.

They all fled south on Ohio 335 and passed a sheriff’s deputy going the opposite direction. The officer then turned around to pursue the van until it ran off the road, then he pursued Steffey on foot. Another deputy caught Steffey after he had hidden the money in a tree trunk.

The money and one handgun were recovered by police.

“The five were in Florida and had met a drug dealer from Minford. They came from Florida to Scioto County to stay with him,” Assistant Scioto County Prosecutor Danielle Parker said. “One or more of the defendants had previously brought drugs from Florida and sold them up here.”

Steffey and Meade both pleaded guilty to charges of aggravated robbery and tampering with evidence, with a firearm specification. Steffey was sentenced to 13 years, and Meade was sentenced to 14 years.

Nadaeu, Binkoski and Caldwell all pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery. Nadaeu also entered a guilty plea on charges of failure to comply with the signal of a police officer. They will all be sentenced at a later date.

RYAN SCOTT OTTNEY can be reached at (740) 353-3101, ext. 235, or e-mail pdtwriter@ryanscottottney.com.