An unemployed corporate lawyer who is accused of robbing a Schuylkill County bank with a toy gun on Oct. 13 waived a preliminary hearing on Wednesday.

Steven Mark Cormier, 57, of West Catawissa Street, Nesquehoning, was led into the hearing room in Port Carbon by a state trooper. He wore a tan prison uniform, handcuffs and flip-flops.His only words during the proceedings were "yes, sir" to District Judge David A. Plachko when the judge asked if he wanted to waive the hearing.Defendants in criminal cases have the option of either having a preliminary hearing or having the cases sent to county court for trial.Cormier remains incarcerated in Schuylkill County Correctional Facility. His bail is set at $100,000 straight cash.Four witnesses sat in Plachko's waiting room waiting to testify in case the hearing would have been held.Cormier is accused of the armed robbery of a Wells Fargo Bank branch in the Fairlane Village Mall, Norwegian Township, at 10:51 a.m. Oct. 13.He was nabbed by Pottsville City police about nine minutes later on Atlantic Avenue near the mall.He was taken into custody without resisting. The affidavit says he admitted he had been at the Fairlane Village Mall at the time the robbery occurred.Police found a bag containing $15,923 in Cormier's car, according to the affidavit.The affidavit says, "The bag appeared to be the same bag that the defendant used during the commission of the bank robbery."Also recovered from the vehicle, according to the affidavit, were black gloves, black hat, a gray sweatshirt and a black toy handgun resembling a 9 mm pistol.Cormier is facing 12 counts of terroristic threats with intent to terrorize another, and one count each of robbery - threat of serious injury, robbery - demand money from a financial institution, theft by unlawful taking and possession of an instrument of crime.Cormier has been an attorney for over 30 years and was employed by the Kovatch Corporation in Nesquehoning, as in-house legal counsel from August 1984 through May of this year.The arresting officer was trooper Chad Smith of the Schuylkill Haven barracks of the Pennsylvania State Police.