PORT TOWNSEND — A federal court trial for a Port Townsend boat builder and farmer accused of robbing a Tacoma bank last October has been postponed for the second time in as many months.
Michael J. Fenter, 40, is now scheduled to go to trial April 6 in U.S. District Court Tacoma.
U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle reset the trial, which was scheduled to begin on Tuesday, on Jan. 25 because the FBI continues to investigate Fenter in connection with three other West Coast bank robberies — a Seattle Washington Mutual in February 2009, a San Francisco Bank of America in April and a Sacramento Wells Fargo in August.
Fenter is accused of robbing $73,000 from a Bank of America branch in Tacoma armed with a .40-caliber Glock handgun on Oct. 8.
The FBI said Fenter claimed he had a bomb that his partner could detonate from outside the building.
After his arrest in Tacoma, Fenter initially refused to identify himself. He put a glue-like substance over his fingerprints and said his name was Patrick Henry.
He was referred to as the “John Doe bandit” until the FBI revealed his identity on Oct. 16.
Fenter is charged with bank robbery and being armed in the commission of a violent felony. He pleaded not guilty to the charges on Nov. 9.
He is being held at the federal detention center in SeaTac.
Fenter lived on the 40-acre Compass Rose Farms near Port Townsend with his wife, Kateen Fenter, their three children and his in-laws. He had no criminal record at the time of his arrest.
His attorney, Tim Lohraff, and U.S. Attorney Gerald Costello, jointly requested the continuance on Jan. 20.
Fenter’s court-appointed attorney, Linda Sullivan, withdrew from the case on Oct. 26. Lohraff took the case three days later.
Since he had a new attorney, a judge granted a first continuance on Dec. 3.
Fenter is not suspected in any bank robberies on the North Olympic Peninsula, the FBI said.
He signed a waiver of right to speedy trial on Jan. 23 and awaits a status conference March 29 in U.S. District Court in Tacoma.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
