A woman linked to a convenience store robbery by DNA on a discarded sweatshirt has pleaded not guilty to Class B felony robbery.

Kathryn Erlandson, 29, cried as she entered the not guilty plea to South Central District Judge Bruce Haskell on Monday afternoon at the Burleigh County Courthouse.

If convicted, she could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison and fines of up to $10,000. The charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of four years in prison because of allegations that Erlandson threatened to use a dangerous weapon during the robbery.

Around 6 a.m. on Sept. 15, clerks at Expressway C-Store, 3801 E. Rosser Ave., reported the store had been robbed by a woman who demanded money from a clerk after another customer left the store. The woman did not show a weapon but advised the clerk not to "do anything stupid."

Bismarck Police Det. Paul Olson testified during a short preliminary hearing that the clerk said the woman had her right hand in her pocket and placed the hand on the counter in a position that looked like she may have been holding a gun.

The robber, who was wearing a white sweatshirt, got away with about $100 in cash. She was last seen driving west on Rosser Avenue in a blue car.

Olson said Officer Preston McKay spotted a white sweatshirt in the middle of Rosser Avenue on the 2800 block while driving to the convenience store to take the robbery report. Later, officers retrieved the sweatshirt and sent it to the state crime laboratory.

The lab found DNA, in the form of hair and sweat, in the sweatshirt, Olson said. He said the DNA was a match to Erlandson, whose DNA is in a database due to prior felony convictions.

Olson located Erlandson in Dickinson and interviewed her there. He said Erlandson said she apologized and said she "just needed the money," after he told her of the DNA match.

He said Erlandson had two small children to make arrangements for when they arrested her, and she called both of her parents. Olson heard her tell them she "messed up" and robbed a Bismarck gas station.

Erlandson told Olson she did not have a weapon during the incident.

"She stated she put her hands in her pockets," Olson said. "Kathy just stated she didn't have a gun."

Kent Morrow, Erlandson's appointed defense attorney, argued that Haskell should find no probable cause for the charge of robbery. Morrow said Erlandson made no threats of imminent bodily injury. He said the crime amounts to theft, not robbery.

"She didn't have to use physical force, menacing or threatening,"Morrow said.

Haskell said a jury should decide whether the incident constitutes robbery.

"It's a pretty subjective test,"the judge said, adding that a jury would have to decide also if Erlandson had pretended to have a gun. "The clerk could have just taken the 'Don't do anything stupid' as a threat of imminent bodily injury."

Erlandson remains in custody in lieu of $50,000 cash bond. She is slated to appear in court again on Dec. 8 for a dispositional conference.

(Reach reporter Jenny Michael at 250-8225 or jenny.michael@;bismarcktribune.com.)