Lewis County Sirens.com

Michael A. Lar, right, confers with defense attorney David Arcuri in Lewis County Superior Court.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A 63-year-old repeat bank robber described as courteous and very literate spent about 30 minutes this morning engaged in oral arguments on his own case before Lewis County Superior Court Judge Nelson Hunt.

Michael A. Lar didn’t win on the point he made, but his life sentence was reduced to 18 years and six months.

“Mr. Lar, I have to tell you, you are the most confounding defendant I have had in my career,” Hunt said. “You are incredibly intelligent, very well-mannered and a violent criminal.”

Lar has multiple convictions for bank robbery, the earliest one local prosecutors could find was as far back as 1982.

According to Lewis County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Sara Beigh, Lar was released from prison in 1995, convicted again and released in January 2008.

He was arrested in January 2010 after an attempted robbery at Twin Star Credit Union in Centralia on South Gold Street.

Two employees arriving for work found a man who’d gotten inside by breaking a window. A responding police officer was able to pull one woman to safety and fired two shots before an hours-long standoff.

Police surrounded the bank, but after hiding in nearby bushes nearly 12 hours, a wounded Lar called a taxi and headed to Olympia, where he was arrested the same night, according to court documents.

After his trial in Lewis County Superior Court, Lar was found guilty of first-degree attempted robbery, first-degree kidnapping and first-degree burglary.

He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of release, based on the so-called three strikes law. However, last year the state Court of Appeals reversed the sentence, saying his previous federal convictions were not comparable to “most serious” convictions under Washington law.

He appeared in court today, represented by Centralia defense attorney David Arcuri.

The discussion focused on how many points Lar had given previous convictions, for the purposes of computing the sentencing range that should apply.

Arcuri told the judge Lar wanted to make a legal argument, representing himself with Arcuri standing by.

He said his client was very well versed in the matter before the court.

“Mr. Lar knows the law about as well as any lawyer could,” Arcuri said.

Judge Hunt allowed it, noting his own experience showed him Lar was very learned in the area.

Lar cited case law addressing whether his two federal bank robbery convictions were comparable to state convictions, for the purposes of determining his “points.” Arcuri stepped back from the defense table, returning to help turn pages for the handcuffed defendant.

Judge Hunt ultimately agreed with Beigh however.

Hunt imposed 140 months for the  first-degree burglary, 222 months for first-degree kidnapping and 120 months for first-degree attempted robbery, all to be served concurrently.

Among the other orders were no contact with the victim and some $493 restitution to the credit union.

At the end of the hearing, Arcuri handed the judge notice of Lar’s intent to appeal.
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For background, read “Life sentence overturned for Twin Star bank robber” from Tuesday April 21, 2015, here

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Two days of court hearings begin tomorrow morning on convicted triple murderer John A. Booth Jr.’s motion to vacate his life sentence.

Booth was convicted for the August 2010 fatal shootings on Wings Way in Onalaska of David West Sr., 52, David “D.J.” West Jr., 16, and Tony Williams, 50. West Sr.’s girlfriend, Denise Salts, survived a gunshot wound to her face. Prosecutors said he was collecting a drug debt.

John Allen Booth Jr.

The former Onalaska resident denied the shootings, but was given a mandatory sentence of life without the possibility of release under the “three strikes” law following his December 2011 trial in Lewis County Superior Court.

The hearings are scheduled to begin in Lewis County Superior Court at 9 a.m. before Judge Richard Brosey.

Among the many witnesses Booth, through his lawyer, is expected to call to the stand is Robert J. Maddaus Jr., formerly of Rochester, who is similarly serving a life term in prison.

Maddaus was convicted earlier in 2011 for the first-degree murder of Shaun Allen Peterson. Peterson died handcuffed and shot on an Olympia street early on Nov. 16, 2009, in what prosecutors said was a weekend of threats and attempts by Maddaus to recover pounds of missing methamphetamine.

Maddaus was transported to the Lewis County Jail on Friday morning.

Lewis County Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher said Booth has subpoenaed a lot of witnesses, including many employees of the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

The burden is Booth’s to make the case to the judge on his motion, Meagher said.

Booth is represented by court assigned defense attorney Erik Kupka. He contends eavesdropping on inmates in the jail  jeopardized his rights to confidential communications with his lawyers.

The motion to vacate the judgement and sentence is based on court rule 7.8.

Meagher said he thinks this could be Booth’s final appeal.

“We beat his appeal, we beat his personal restraint petition, we beat another motion he made,” Meagher said. “I think this is his last hurrah.”

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For background, read “Judge to hear convicted triple murderer John A. Booth’s motion in May” from Wednesday April 13, 2016, here

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A Chehalis business owner has pleaded not guilty to local charges related to using an alias following a search by local, state and federal agencies of his warehouse, his home and several vehicles.

A sheriff’s detective began looking into Champion Greens located on Northwest West Street in Chehalis based on information that arose pursuant to an investigation by multiple agencies into organized criminal activity in Washington state, according to court documents.

Both the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office and the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office said the case involved an ongoing investigation, which they have not commented on.

Lewis County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Will Halstead declined to say what type of organized crime was being looked into or what law enforcement agencies were doing the looking.

Elvis A. Matias-Lopez, 34, of Chehalis, is charged in Lewis County Superior Court with three class C felonies and is free on a $10,000 unsecured signature bond.

Halstead said he believes Matias-Lopez is Guatemalan.

The current charges relate to Matias-Lopez allegedly registering to vote, possessing two guns without the required alien firearm license and using the name Elvis A. Matias-Lopez for over 10 years, according to court documents.

Matias-Lopez pleaded not guilty on Thursday in Lewis County Superior Court to first-degree criminal impersonation, false declaration as to qualifications as a voter and alien in possession of a firearm without an alien firearm license.

He hired Centralia lawyer Don Blair after his April 20 arrest.

Charging documents in the case don’t reveal the nature of the organized crime being investigated, they only state a Lewis County sheriff’s detective became aware of Champion Greens because of that investigation, back in September 2014.

Champion Greens is a forest products foraging business consisting of a large cinder block structure, with multiple loading bays and “ample” storage area on Northwest West Street in Chehalis, according to the documents.

Law enforcement decided to conduct surveillance which continued regularly until last October on Matias-Lopez, his business co-owner, Champion Greens and his residence, according to court documents.

According to court documents, the sheriff’s office found Matias-Lopez was illegally in the country and eligible for deportation.

Another deputy learned from Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Oregon that Matias-Lopez had previously informed them he’d legally changed his name in the Guatemalan court system, but in February, inquiries showed no evidence of Jose Matias-Lucas changing his name, according to court documents.

Search warrants were secured on April 19 and the following day, served with the assistance of local, state and federal agencies.

Items were seized which included but not were limited to documents showing Matias-Lopez’s “dominance and control” of the various structures and vehicles, receipts, bank drafts, inspection forms, a voter registration card, a  12-gauge shotgun, a Ruger LCP and ammunition, according to the court documents.

Prosecutor Halstead, who is handling the case in Lewis County Superior Court, said late last week he “cant’ answer that” as to whether any indications of organized criminal activity were found during the searches.

A phone call seeking comment from Matias-Lopez’s attorney was not returned.

The three alleged violations of state law each carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison. His trial is scheduled for the week of July 11.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Lewis County prosecutors did not file any criminal charges today against the 24-year-old man arrested last night for allegedly killing a cat in north Centralia.

Kyle B. Burke was booked into the Lewis County Jail for  animal cruelty, but released today.

“The whole thing is kind of murky,” Lewis County Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher said this afternoon.

Centralia police interviewed several individuals, including children, when they responded to the apartment complex on the 100 block of Virginia Drive yesterday evening. Police reported this morning they were told Burke killed the cat with a knife, but Burke denied that.

“Somebody was very cruel to this animal,” Meagher said. “But I can’t say for sure it’s this guy.”

At some point, the cat was dropped from a second-floor balcony, he said.

“In this case, there seemed to be some evidence, when police talked to all the kids, it could have suffered terrible injury at the hands of a kid,” Meagher said. “And possibly he was putting it out of its misery.”

Prosecutors don’t have the feline’s body for evidence, because for whatever reason, police didn’t pick it up, Meagher said. Although he indicated that wasn’t the primary cause no charges were filed

He said when they looked over everything, there just was not enough evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Burke intentionally was cruel to the cat.

Meagher said his office may be talking further with Centralia detectives about the case next week.