Minn. man sentenced to 25 years in prison for kidnapping his wife

A Minnesota man has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for kidnapping his wife from Virginia, Minn., in 2011, and robbing a bank in Kansas on his way to Mexico.

Timothy Glen Caskey pleaded guilty on Feb. 6, 2014, to kidnapping the woman and robbing the Kansas bank. U.S. District Judge John R. Tunheim sentenced the 43-year-old last week to 25 years in prison.

"Timothy Caskey kidnapped the victim and took her to Mexico, where he repeatedly threatened her, and physically and sexually assaulted her," Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle E. Jones said in a statement on Monday.

"The defendant funded his violent escapade by robbing a bank in Kansas and stealing a truck in Texas.""

On July 14, 2011, the day he was accused of kidnapping his estranged wife, Caskey was released from Northeast Regional Corrections Center near Duluth after serving 50 days of a 90-day sentence for violating a domestic violence no-contact order and making harassing phone calls to the woman.

"His history of violent criminal behavior, combined with his guilty plea for these crimes, properly resulted in his 25-year prison sentence," Jones added.

According to a statement from the U.S. attorney's office, Caskey shoved his wife into his car and attacked her 9-year-old son and another person. He then fled with the woman. The court statement said Caskey attacked the woman with the handle of a screwdriver before pulling off the highway and assaulting her.

Caskey robbed Great Southern Bank in Ottawa, Kan., the next day, according to court documents. He stole a pickup truck from a used car dealership in New Braunfels, Texas, before he entered Mexico, the statement said.

Caskey refused to give water and food to the victim while he continued to assault her, according to the statement.

Caskey was arrested in Mexico on Aug. 8, 2011.