Marx Wayne Coonrod denied robbing the same Vancouver Umpqua Bank branch twice and trying a third time over a three-month span in 2016 through the very end of his criminal case.
“My right to a fair trial was taken from me. I’m sorry about what happened to these people, but it wasn’t me,” Coonrod said during sentencing Friday.
“You’re a bank robber,” Clark County Superior Court Judge Daniel Stahnke replied, moments before he handed down a more than 14-year prison sentence.
Coonrod, a 62-year-old from Scappoose, Ore., robbed the bank Feb. 1, 2016, and March 16, 2016, and tried to do it again April 22 of that year, court records say.
The first robbery was carried out by a man wearing a dark-colored, hooded jacket, a dark beanie and scarf. He walked into the bank shortly after 10:30 a.m., according to an affidavit of probable cause. Witnesses described the robber as being an average height, with a heavy build and distinctive, almost limping walk, Senior Deputy Prosecutor James Smith said. The robber demanded bills in $50 and $100 denominations. He didn’t show a firearm.
After the robbery, he walked east from the bank. Police found fresh tire tracks in the mud and a blue knit beanie in a nearby alley, court records say. A forensic test found Coonrod’s DNA on the beanie, Smith said.
The second robbery was carried out by a man wearing a hooded jacket, blue jeans, dark-colored gloves, sunglasses and a blue bandana over his face. One of the employees immediately recognized him as the man who had robbed the bank branch in February, according to court documents.
Then, on April 22, 2016, a man approached the front of the same Umpqua Bank branch wearing camouflage pants, gloves and a hooded sweatshirt but turned around and left upon seeing a security guard, the affidavit said.
At trial, the defense did not deny Coonrod was near the bank April 22. Defense attorney John Terry said his client was there to get change for a $100 bill. Coonrod never entered the bank, though.
Jurors found Coonrod guilty last week of three counts of first-degree robbery and one count of first-degree attempted robbery.
On Friday, Smith asked the judge to impose a punishment beyond what the law generally allows. Coonrod faced a sentencing range of 129 to 171 months in prison for first-degree robbery. The prosecutor requested a sentence of 240 months, which would have effectively amounted to life behind bars for Coonrod.
“I don’t make (the recommendation) lightly. … If he returns to the community, we have no assurances he won’t do it again,” Smith said.
Coonrod was previously convicted in a series of Vancouver bank robberies in 2006 and 2007, and he reportedly wore a similar disguise in those robberies and walked with a limp, according to court documents. He was sentenced to eight years in prison, court records say. Smith noted during Friday’s hearing that Coonrod was out of prison for about two years before resuming criminal behavior.
Smith also pointed to the emotional trauma Coonrod caused bank employees and customers in asking for the lengthy sentence.
One employee, Darcey Reed, told the judge that Coonrod, in about a half-minute on two occasions, terrorized her and her team, leaving them with deep-seated anxiety and fear.
“He took from us the sense of security we had in the workplace. We now live with fear and stress,” Reed said, adding that some employees quit while others switched careers.
Terry, the defense attorney, argued for a sentence of about eight years, less time than the standard sentencing range. He said Coonrod did not use a firearm, and no one was injured during the robberies.
Stahnke decided 171 months was appropriate. He said the jury reached its decision (in about 1½ hours) without knowing Coonrod’s criminal history.
“I think the system worked perfectly in this case,” the judge said.
