Judge shaves year off bank robber's sentence

Convicted bank robber Steven Simmons is eligible for parole one year earlier after Judge Dave Gamble resentenced the 28-year-old Mammoth Lakes snowboarder Tuesday on order of the Nevada Supreme Court.

After he was convicted by a jury in January of bank robbery with a deadly weapon, Simmons was sentenced by Judge Michael Gibbons to 20 years in prison.

The Nevada Supreme Court remanded the sentencing in October, ruling that the judge placed too much weight on the defendant's refusal to admit guilt and violated his Fifth Amendment rights.

The high court upheld the convictions, but said Simmons deserved a new sentencing hearing before a different judge.

After a one-hour hearing, which included testimony from Simmons' father and several victims, Gamble sentenced Simmons to eight years in Nevada State Prison with a minimum parole eligibility of two years.

The penalty is doubled to 16 years because Simmons used a loaded gun in commission of the crime.

Simmons must serve five years in prison before he is eligible for parole instead of the original six.

He did not testify during the trial nor admit his guilt.

Witnesses testified that a masked man burst into the Minden branch of the Bank of America near closing on Nov. 22, 2005, with a loaded 9 mm Glock handgun and demanded money.

There were no injuries but the robber got away with $4,708, which was recovered.

Simmons was discovered hiding in a dog crate 45 minutes after the robbery. His DNA was found on the handgun, clothing, tennis shoes, ski goggles and backpack.

Gamble also sentenced him Tuesday to 36 months to be served concurrently for possession of a firearm with the serial number changed, altered or obliterated.

Simmons is in custody at the Lovelock Correctional Center.

He addressed the victims and his family Tuesday.

"I would like to apologize to the victims," Simmons said. "I didn't want to hurt anybody in my life. I am hurt and embarrassed by this.

"I apologize to my family. I am sorry I shut you out of my life. In 2005, I quit five jobs in a row. I didn't understand what was happening. I can't explain what happened to my life. I am sorry."

Three victims testified Tuesday that more than two years after the event, they still are haunted by the memories of the bank robber pointing the gun at a teller and threatening to shoot.

"I don't know what it fair," former teller Donna Kruger said Tuesday. "And I think it's wrong we're doing this again. He had a loaded gun in my face and counted down."

Gamble said since he didn't preside at the trial, he lacked the sense of "absolute terror" which the victims suffered.

"That shouldn't happen to any human," he said. "I'm sorry it happened to you and that it continues to impact your lives as it clearly has."

The judge said his task was to reach "a very imprecise place" of fairness.

He reflected on Simmons' lack of prior crimes, family support and good behavior while in custody since the robbery.

But he agreed with prosecutor Michael McCormick that Simmons "picked a doozy" for his first felony.

"This is second only to those incidents when persons are actually hurt," Gamble said.

Gamble told Simmons that he had a long life ahead when he gets out of prison.

"You are young now, you are going to be young when you get out," he said. "You have a long opportunity to change what you've done in this case. Do this properly. Open yourself up.

"I think you already have made a huge change that you said in the statements to the victims today," Gamble said.

Gamble gave Simmons credit for 756 days in custody which means he could be eligible for parole in about three years.

McCormick said after the sentencing he could see the impact the crime continued to have on the victims.

"None of us can be in the shoes of the victims. Each one of those ladies is still impacted by what occurred on Nov. 22, 2005," McCormick said. "It seems too often we focus on the defendant rather than the victims."

Simmons' father, Steve Atkin, said he was grateful the judge trimmed the sentence.

"Justice was served, but mercy, too," Atkin said after the hearing. "Steven is paying for his crime and he will continue to pay for it."