Globe bank robbery suspect to change plea

Phoenix — Troy K. Miller, 48, of Globe, Ariz. who told a federal judge earlier he was innocent of local bank robbery charges, has been granted a change of plea hearing his attorney had requested. Miller was originally scheduled to go on trial Sept. 4 in Phoenix before a jury.

Miller, who is still in federal custody because he is considered a flight risk, is now to appear Aug. 20 at 3 p.m. in U.S. District Court Room 303 in Phoenix before Federal Judge  Michelle Burns for his change of plea. 

Miller is charged with allegedly robbing the Bank of the West on the Globe-Miami highway last Christmas Eve by entering the bank with a gun in one hand and placing a purported bomb on a teller counter. The FBI claimed Miller told bank employees, “hurry or I will blow it,” and fled with an undisclosed amount of money on his BMX style bicycle.  Investigators said the device he left behind in the bank was not a bomb.