Bank Robber Gets Prison Term

Fri., May 1, 1998

From Staff

A drug-addicted robber who stole $2,225 from a downtown Spokane bank last September will serve almost 13 years in federal prison.

Ervin Banks, 40, was sentenced to a 151-month term this week by U.S. District Court Judge Fred Van Sickle.

Banks earlier pleaded guilty to the Sept. 9 robbery of SeaFirst Bank, 601 W. Riverside.

He was arrested Sept. 20 in Lakewood, Wash., for a probation violation and later tied to the robbery by FBI agents.

He faced a sentence of 151 to 188 months because he qualified as a “career offender” because of nine previous felony convictions.

His record, dating back to 1978, includes burglary, forgery and possession of crack cocaine.

He told the judge that he has a drug habit, and that’s why he robbed the Spokane bank. Van Sickle ordered Banks to get drug treatment in prison.

Banks moved to Spokane in 1996 and lived at 315 W. Riverside, three blocks from the bank he robbed. After the holdup, he fled to Tacoma.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Ron Skibbie said Banks was considered a suspect but not charged with a Sept. 9 holdup of an Exxon station at 822 W. Second. That robbery netted $206.

Skibbie said Banks also was considered a suspect in the Sept. 18 robbery of a SeaFirst bank in Tacoma, where $2,346 was stolen.

Banks must make restitution for all three robberies as part of his sentence, Skibbie said.

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