Sean C. Morgan
Mellissa Avila was sentenced to 36 months supervised probation and 30 days, with time served, in jail in connection to her role in the Dec. 20 armed robbery of Umpqua Bank.
In a plea agreement, Avila pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree robbery, a class B felony.
“The defendant was the getaway driver,” said Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Crow in Circuit Court before Judge Tom McHill Friday. John Cerruti went inside with a firearm and robbed the bank.
The detectives found that the defendant had been to Corvallis an hour later and made purchases, Crow said. She lied and said that Cerruti had gone into McDonald’s to check on an application.
Evidence indicated otherwise, he said. Avila’s involvement was less than that of Cerruti, who was sentenced last month to 70 months in prison for second-degree robbery.
As part of the sentence, the court ordered that Avila have no contact with four employees of Umpqua Bank and pay $1,925 in restitution to the bank and $224 to one employee for lost wages. The employee took two days off following the robbery. Avila also was fined $200.
The restitution applies only to Avila at this point, but Crow said the state would seek an amendment to the judgment against Cerruti, making him also responsible for the restitution.
“This crime has affected my life more than I thought it could,” the employee said in a letter to the court. She said she had never had a gun pointed at her or yelled at like that before. Now she and the other employees live in fear.
The victims were notified of the court procedure, but they did not appear.
“My heart goes out to them,” Avila said. “I wish I could change it, but I can’t. I just want to say I’m sorry.”
Avila said she is trying to turn things around. Helping Hands of Albany helped her get her food handler’s permit, and she has been cooking there.
“I hope this is a turning point in your life,” McHill told Avila.
Avila told The New Era there was no connection between the decision to rob the bank and the social media rumors of a school shooting allegedly planned for the same day in Sweet Home.
She said she was unaware of the rumor, and they didn’t plan the robbery with it in mind.