Oregon man sentenced in robbery of credit union in April 2017

An Oregon City, Ore., man who robbed Vancouver’s Northwest Priority Credit Union in April 2017 was sentenced Wednesday to nearly five years in prison after pleading guilty to first-degree robbery.

During the hearing, a prosecutor said that William Kelly III, 25, walked into the credit union, 11215 N.E. 28th St., wearing glasses and a “mid-career Michael Jackson hairstyle” wig then demanded, via note, money from a teller.

Kelly disputed the charge but said he was pleading guilty because he believed there was enough evidence for a jury to find him guilty, taking what’s called a Newton plea. It’s treated the same as a guilty plea.

He was arrested soon after the robbery, and investigators tied him to another robbery in Portland.

According to court records, Kelly previously pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Portland to two counts of bank robbery and was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison. He was also convicted earlier this year in Clackamas County, Ore., of two counts of second-degree burglary, and was sentenced to 19 months in prison to run concurrently with his federal sentence.

Clark County Superior Court Judge Bernard Veljacic sentenced Kelly to 57 months in prison, which will run concurrently with the Oregon and federal court sentences.