SEQUIM — Two of three people arrested in connection with a June burglary of Coastal Farm and Ranch, for which multiple shotguns and tools were stolen, have pleaded guilty to felony charges.
Marcus Lavon Hale, 42, agreed to an offer of 10 years in prison Nov. 7 in Clallam County Superior Court, while Christopher Paul Robbins, 53, accepted six years in prison on Wednesday.
Sequim police said three people were seen on surveillance video at the business, at 990 E. Washington St., at about 5:30 a.m. June 24, with Robbins throwing a rock through the store’s front door window and using his shoe to break the second door. He later let in Hale and another person, allegedly Micah Aaron Parker, 33, through an emergency door, the reports say.
In all, 13 shotguns worth about $9,050 were stolen, along with power tools and batteries, coolers and other merchandise worth about $14,040, according to court documents.
Parker’s next hearing is set for 1:30 p.m. Friday in Clallam County Superior Court.
He’s being held on $150,000 bond and faces charges of first-degree burglary, first-degree theft and 13 counts of theft of a firearm.
Initially, Hale was charged with first-degree burglary, first-degree theft and 13 counts of theft of a firearm, but his plea deal with the Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office was amended to include second-degree burglary with a firearm enhancement and first-degree theft.
Judge Brent Basden signed off on the plea deal on Nov. 7.
Hale had been previously convicted of various felonies in June 2012 in Pierce County, including first-degree burglary, according to court documents.
In court on Nov. 7, Hale apologized and expressed regret, according to court documents, and he wrote in a statement: “I broke into a business and had a firearm when doing so. I stole items worth approximately $8,000 more or less. This happened in Clallam County on June 24, 2022.”
Robbins’ charges were also amended on Nov. 9 to include second-degree burglary, first-degree theft and possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance (fentanyl).
Court documents say Robbins had more than 100 pills of fentanyl and about 2 ounces of methamphetamine when he was arrested.
He was previously charged with first-degree burglary, first-degree, 13 counts of theft of a firearm and possession with intent to manufacture or deliver a controlled substance (fentanyl) and (methamphetamine).
Robbins is also a convicted felon with multiple crimes including second-degree theft and forgery, according to court documents.
Michele Devlin, Clallam County chief criminal deputy prosecuting attorney, said on Wednesday that a substance abuse disorder contributed to Robbins’ offense.
Judge Simon Barnhart agreed to Robbins’ plea deal that also included 12 months of community custody upon release, a no-contact order with Hale and Parker, and he’s not allowed on any Coastal properties.
Barnhart also agreed to Robbins’ request he be jailed separately from his co-defendants.
According to Nov. 4 court documents, Parker’s attorney William Payne said there’s been a breakdown in communication between him and Parker. Parker told Barnhart he needs a competency hearing because of numerous mental health issues and does not understand why he is there, court documents state.
Barnhart denied Parker’s request for new counsel, according to court documents, and Payne said he didn’t believe Parker had competency issues.
Previously, Payne told the court he received a plea deal offer the day before a Sept. 16 hearing, and Parker requested a new attorney and spit on the glass separating them.
Parker told Barnhart on Sept. 16 that Payne was already out of the booth when he spit, and he was “in shock and awe of the prosecuting attorney’s offer.”
Payne told Barnhart he had no issue with Parker.
Parker was arrested on June 29 at Western Inn in Tacoma, allegedly in possession of one of the stolen shotguns, and some power tools and clothes from the store, according to Sequim Police.
Robbins was arrested outside 7 Cedars Casino on June 24, according to court documents.
Hale was arrested on Sept. 14 at Olympia Inn in Olympia by the Thurston County Swat Team, Sequim Police detectives and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents, Sequim Police reported.
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Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. Reach him at mnash@sequimgazette.com.
