( CNN ) -- A Pennsylvania man has been sentenced to 45 years in prison in a deadly bank robbery plot -- described by the judge in the case as `` incredibly bizarre '' -- in which a pizza deliveryman died when a bomb affixed to his neck exploded . This device held a bomb to the neck of Brian Wells during a 2003 bank robbery in Erie , Pennsylvania . At the sentencing in Erie , Pennsylvania , prosecutors repeated their contention that the pizza deliveryman was involved in planning the robbery attempt but wore a live bomb only after being threatened by his co-conspirators . Kenneth Barnes , 55 , of Erie , was sentenced Wednesday after he pleaded guilty in September to conspiracy to commit bank robbery and using a destructive device during a crime of violence . Prosecutors said Barnes and three co-conspirators -- one of whom was pizza deliveryman Brian Wells -- planned to rob a PNC Bank on the outskirts of Erie , and Wells , 46 , carried out the robbery on August 28 , 2003 . Authorities said Wells walked into the bank with a pipe bomb locked to his neck and passed a note demanding money to a teller . The robbery netted about $ 8,700 . Wells died when the bomb exploded as he sat in a parking lot after being stopped by police shortly after the robbery . The case drew national attention and was the subject of intense investigation and questions about whether Wells was a willing participant or a murder victim . Prosecutors said after Barnes ' sentencing that Wells was involved in planning the robbery but balked when he realized that the bomb he was supposed to wear was real . He was threatened with a gun to make him wear the bomb , according to prosecutors . U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan called the sentence `` appropriate and just , '' and said the contentions of Wells ' family that he was not involved in the plot are `` overwhelmingly '' countered by evidence of meetings with Wells , Barnes and the other two co-conspirators before the robbery . One of the alleged co-conspirators is now dead and the other one , Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong , is undergoing treatment at a federal facility in Texas after the judge in the case found her mentally incompetent to stand trial . Her case will be re-examined by the court next year , said Margaret Philbin , spokeswoman for Buchanan 's office . In sentencing Barnes , U.S. District Judge Sean J. McLaughlin said , `` To me , the callousness and complete lack of regard for human life is , in a word , chilling . This case represents the unhappy combination of incredibly bizarre and sadly tragic . ''
Pizza deliveryman died when bomb strapped to his neck exploded . Police contend he was in on plot but did n't count on live bomb . Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania , police says case ` ` incredibly bizarre and sadly tragic ''