A 26-year-old man was sentenced this week to 2 ½ years in federal prison for robbing a Walgreens in Minneapolis, then a St. Paul bank the next day.

Korey Maurese Hale of Minneapolis pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court of Minnesota to one count of armed bank robbery in connection with the June 2024 hold ups.

Hale used the same .22-caliber Mossberg rifle in both robberies, making off with about $200 from Walgreens at Chicago Avenue and 43rd Street and approximately $1,833 from BMO Bank at Snelling and Randolph avenues, according to his January plea agreement. St. Paul police arrested Hale near the bank shortly after the heist.

In an interview with a St. Paul police investigator, Hale said people were trying to kill him and voices in his head made him rob the bank, according to initial charges filed in Ramsey County District Court.

Hale was civilly committed as mentally ill and chemically dependent in September 2024. Eight months later, he was ordered to undergo a federal psychiatric and psychological examination, which found his medication treatment was effective and he was competent to stand trial, Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Forbes wrote in a presentencing memo.

Hale’s sentencing Monday at the federal courthouse in St. Paul includes five years of supervised release following incarceration.

“Once released, if Hale continues to take his medications, continues to receive mental health treatment, and stays away from controlled substances, he will dramatically reduce his risk of recidivism,” Forbes wrote in the memo. “A five-year term of supervision will best ensure that the federal crimes in this case are Hale’s last.”