Bail reduced for man accused of attempted Bellefonte bank burglary

The preliminary hearing for a Bellefonte man accused of attempted burglary was waived Wednesday before District Judge Steven Lachman.

Public defender Deborah Lux represented Andrew Joseph Pillot, who was arrested Jan. 29 after allegedly attempting to break into the First National Bank on North Allegheny Street in Bellefonte.

Pillot was preliminarily arraigned before District Judge Kelley Gillette-Walker and has been in jail since, as he was unable to post his $100,000 bail.

On Wednesday, Lux requested a modification for Pillot’s bail, saying that he had a family that cared about him and had numerous places he could stay in the county.

Lux also argued that Pillot “was interviewed by the court and found to be clean prior to his arrest and had been receiving rehabililative therapy from Clear Concepts.”

Lux argued for the bail modification on the grounds that her client “never had a problem attending previous court proceedings” and that he had a job he could return to if the modication was granted.

Lachman sided with Lux, reducing Pillot’s bail to 10 percent of $50,000. Lachman advised Pillot that he would be under strict supervision from the Centre County Probation office and was also ordered to continue drug counseling.

This case will proceed to a pretrial conference and may go to trial.

This story was originally published February 10, 2016 at 9:33 PM with the headline "Bail reduced for man accused of attempted Bellefonte bank burglary."