Mar. 28—An Indianapolis man has been sentenced to prison after pleading guilty Monday to aggravated robbery, a Class 1 felony, in connection with a robbery at First Mid Bank & Trust in Effingham last April, according to the Effingham County State's Attorney.

Following the guilty plea, Corey Ellerbe, 46, was sentenced to eight years in prison and two years of mandatory supervised release. Ellerbe received credit for 358 days served since his arrest, which occurred nearly a year ago.

On the day of the robbery, April 1, 2022, Ellerbe fled the scene and headed across state lines. He was spotted by witnesses who notified authorities and he was arrested in Vigo County, Indiana, later that day.

Although unarmed at the time of the robbery, Ellerbe implied that he was in possession of a weapon when he demanded cash from bank employees.

"He led the teller to believe that he had a weapon with what he put on the note that he passed to her," said Effingham County State's Attorney Aaron Jones.

Jones said his office was satisfied with the sentencing.

"As we always do, we take into consideration the victims' feelings and wishes on this, and that was certainly done here as well," he said. "We wanted to make sure that prison time was a part of this."

Nick Taylor can be reached at nick.taylor@effinghamdailynews.com or by phone at 618-510-9226 or 217-347-7151 ext. 300132.