Bank robber gets five years in prison

Robbed Moses Lake bank in 2008

EPHRATA — A man convicted of robbing a Moses Lake bank will

serve more than five years in prison.

A jury convicted Allen J. Pavese, 56, of robbery in the first

degree, assault in the fourth degree and theft in the first degree

in Grant County Superior Court.

EPHRATA — A man convicted of robbing a Moses Lake bank will serve more than five years in prison.

A jury convicted Allen J. Pavese, 56, of robbery in the first degree, assault in the fourth degree and theft in the first degree in Grant County Superior Court.

The conviction came after Judge Evan Sperline decided the defense didn’t provide enough evidence to prove Pavese was legally insane at the time of the crime. The defense attorney needed to prove Pavese didn’t understand the nature of his actions or didn’t know right from wrong.

Pavese faced a sentencing range of four years and nine months to six years and three months.

He had prior convictions for assault, intimidating a public servant and malicious mischief.

Sperline sentenced the man to five years and six months in prison after prosecutors recommended the high end of the sentencing range.

Several witnesses spotted Pavese enter the former Washington Mutual Bank branch in Moses Lake in November 2008. The man approached the bank teller, stumbled and crashed into the counter, before threatening the teller with a knife and demanding money, Deputy Prosecutor Doug Mitchell said during opening statements.

After getting the money, Pavese fled the bank in a Jeep Cherokee. A customer followed the man outside, calling 9-1-1 and giving a description of the vehicle. A Moses Lake police officer was nearby and spotted the vehicle.

When the man was arrested on Ivy Street, officers found $3,894 on him, according to a Moses Lake police report.