Stanwood man sentenced to three years in prison for bank robbery spree

A 26-year-old Stanwood man was sentenced to three years in federal prison Friday for an addiction-driven series of robberies of banks and espresso stands stretching from Mount Vernon to Seattle.

David E. Hayes' monthlong holdup spree began last Christmas, when he robbed a coffee stand in Everett. Three days later, he heisted about $1,700 from a bank in Marysville. Two weeks after that, he handed a note to a teller at a bank on Aurora Avenue North in Seattle and ran off with $582.

Two days later, Hayes made off with $681 from an Arlington bank. Finally, on Jan. 22, he stuck up a Mount Vernon espresso booth and robbed a Bothell bank of $1,006.

Three days later, police arrested him in Seattle after someone recognized him in a surveillance photo published in a newspaper.

Hayes pleaded guilty in March to four counts of bank robbery.

At sentencing, Hayes pleaded to U.S. District Judge John Coughenour for a lenient 31-month term, saying he was a hopeless heroin addict but has now gotten clean and hopes to become a chef some day. More than a dozen friends, relatives and a former coach wrote letters to the judge attesting that Hayes had been a promising and athletic young man before the drugs took hold.

Prosecutors sought 51 months, acknowledging that Hayes "is a sad case," but arguing that a longer sentence was appropriate because the fear he caused the many victims of his crimes.

Coughenour said 36 months would be appropriate, and recommended drug treatment in prison. He noted the crowd of Hayes' friends and family in court.

"I hope you realize how much you have let them down," he said.

Ian Ith: 206-464-2109 or iith@seattletimes.com