1 Of 2 Charged With ATM Theft AgreesTo Cooperate

The alleged ATM tractor bandits are no longer a tag team.

Thomas Paul Ludlum, 42, of Lake Placid, entered a guilty plea Wednesday afternoon in the Highlands County Courthouse to counts of first-degree grand theft and the burglary of a structure for his 2006 New Year's Eve theft of a Highlands Independent Bank ATM.

As part of the plea agreement, Ludlum will cooperate with prosecutors during the trial of his accomplice, Jesus A. Sanchez.

Ludlum will be back in the court on Jan. 22, 2008, where he will have a sentencing conference in front of Judge Peter Estrada. He could face probation or up to five years in prison.

Ludlum's sentencing was pushed to January so he could work with prosecutors before Sanchez's Jan. 16, 2008 pre-trial conference. Ludlum has been free on bond since March.

Arrest reports provided by the Lake Placid Police Department state that on Dec. 31, 2006, Ludlum and Sanchez stole an excavator from the Interlake Boulevard Walgreens, which they later used to steal the ATM.

The reports make it seem as though Sanchez talked Ludlum into the crime, by telling him during a visit earlier in the day that all he needed to steal the ATM was the excavator.

The alleged thieves then used Ludlum's 1995 Ford Ranger Truck to transport the ATM to a construction site on State Road 70, in southeast Lake Placid, where they tried to open it by smashing it with two bull-dozers, according to reports.

A pair of witnesses reportedly confronted the suspects after seeing their suspicious activity and asked them why they were there. Arrest reports state that Sanchez then pushed the ATM into a nearby canal and the two fled the area.

Reports state that after the suspects left the ATM, they went to a Clewiston residence, where Sanchez reportedly asked Ludlum if he wanted to go back to the canal to retrieve the ATM safe. Ludlum told Sanchez that he wanted nothing more to do with the crime, and told him that the whole situation was "very stupid."

The arrest report also states that Sanchez "must have gone back to the (construction) site" because the next day Sanchez told Ludlum the ATM was not there.

The arrest report went on to say that Ludlum was very upset during his interview with police and showed signs of remorse.

Ludlum was arrested in 2004 on a domestic battery charge.