The ex-convict who robbed a bank and waited for police to come just so he could go back to prison has been given a full-time job as a welder at a trucking company.

David Potchen, robbed a bank in Merrillville, Indiana, last June, but the Lake County judge who heard his case didn't send him back to jail and instead asked if anyone needed an employee.

The boss of an Illinois trucking company, who had hired ex-convicts before, decided to take a chance on the 53-year-old and gave Potchen a job welding truck flat beds outside of Chicago.

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David Potchen, who robbed a bank in Merrillville, Indiana, and waited for police to arrive so he could go back to prison is now employed by a family-owned trucking company

The boss of an Illinois trucking company gave Potchen, 53, a job welding truck flat beds outside of Chicago

The Lake County judge who heard Potchen's case didn't send him to jail and instead asked if anyone need help

The owner of the company, a devout Christian who only goes by Duane, went to visit Potchen after hearing about his story and conducted a job interview at the jail, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Duane felt Potche carried himself with dignity and could tell all he wanted was a job and a new lease on life so he offered the convicted felon a job working at his family-owned company.

Potchen (seen in March 2015) was in jail during his job interview for the welding position

He said: 'I found the timing interesting - being Holy Week and all - that's kind of the pinnacle of second chances.

'David definitely needed a fresh start.

'We definitely needed a welder.'

After getting help from his new employer with finding an apartment, Potchen started working full-time and has been a model employee by all accounts, according to NBC News.

He's a loyal employee and his skills as a welder are earning him $18 per hour with planned step increases.

The position also comes with benefits and a 401(k) retirement plan.

Potchen said: 'Until they kick me out of here or shut the door on me, I ain't leaving.'

He added: 'It's overwhelming that they put all this time and effort into somebody, took a chance on somebody.

'The people have been more than helpful in this whole situation.

'The job, everything, it's just been - I can't believe it. It's just unbelievable.'

Potchen decided to rob a bank in Indiana, last June with a note on the back of his resume, but now he's working

He's a loyal employee and his skills as a welder are earning him $18 per hour with planned step increases

Potchen spends his days off fishing, but mostly thinks about his job and what he must accomplish at work

He was on probation in June and served 286 more days before he told Judge Clarence Murray that he would plead guilty only if he got the maximum eight years for the recent theft and was put back in prison.

'In my lifetime I have had occasion to run into a lot of homeless people, but I don't recall ever meeting face-to-face a hopeless person,' Murray said.

'To me, someone who would give up on freedom, it was just shocking,'

The judge decided to let Potchen withdraw his plea and gave him a conversion charge.

'You're not a throwaway, Mr Potchen. You have value, sir. I'm always optimistic and hopeful that there are still good people out there who believe freedom is important,' Murray said in February.