Thomas L. Pleasant is sentenced today in Lewis County Superior Court.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – For the second time in his life, a former Centralia man has been sentenced to life in prison.
Thomas L. Pleasant, 50, went before a judge today in Lewis County Superior Court, having pleaded guilty last month to first-degree robbery and second-degree assault for what took place at the Chehalis Subway store late one night in the summer of 2008.
It was a third strike case with a mandatory punishment neither the prosecutor or defense attorney disputed.
Judge Richard Brosey agreed Pleasant’s 1989 conviction for first-degree robbery in Pierce County and a Colorado conviction for assaulting an officer with a deadly weapon counted as strikes one and two.
“You’re sentenced to the state Department of Corrections for the rest of your natural life, without the possibility of release or parole,” Brosey told the defendant.
Pleasant readily admitted to a string of robberies that summer, and by the end of 2008, was convicted of three first-degree robberies in Cowlitz County and sent off to prison for life, under the same persistent offender law.
Lewis County detectives interviewed him before he left and charges were filed in Lewis County for the July 16, 2008 holdup of the lone female employee at the shop in the Twin City Town Center. The charges were first-degree robbery and first-degree rape.
He admitted robbing her with a pellet gun that looked real, tying her up with an electrical cord and putting her in a walk-in cooler. When she was interviewed, she told of the same events, along with him asking her if she wanted to live and then with a gun to her back, raping her, according to court documents.
Pleasant denied the rape in 2008 and again today.
Lewis County Senior Prosecuting Attorney Will Halstead and Centralia defense attorney Don Blair struck a plea deal, agreeing the rape charge would be dismissed for “evidentiary reasons”.
Blair addressed the court this afternoon, and said his client’s DNA was not present, but other males’ DNA was. Judge Brosey said he understood the Chehalis Police Department no longer had the evidence for the case.
“We believe we would have prevailed on that count,” Blair said.
Pleasant accepted the judge’s offer to speak on his own behalf and told him he was willing to accept the consequences.
“It is what it is,” Pleasant said. “I don’t know why the person said what she said.
“I know I went in, I robbed her, tied her up and put her in the cooler; that was it.”
Halstead told the judge he’d met with the victim as recently as Monday, and believed she now understood why he amended the charges downward.
He read a letter from the victim, who was not named. “She’s adamant she was raped,” he said.
“To whom it may concern: I have to live with what happened to me every day
“I never asked to be robbed at gunpoint, raped and put in a cooler.”
She continued on how she would have liked to stand up to her attacker at trial, but that was taken from her.
“What does that say about the Lewis County court system,” Halstead read. “About the Chehalis Police Department?”
Chehalis Police Chief Glenn Schaffer this afternoon said the evidence was not lost, it was destroyed and he’s not sure exactly where along the line the case came apart.
The department keeps case evidence in a vault and periodically gets rid of or returns what they don’t need any longer, he said.
The department routinely checks with the prosecutor’s office before taking such actions though, according to Schaffer.
“We sent a note and the prosecutor’s office checked off on it,” he said.
Schaffer said he wasn’t certain at this point if his department erred in making the request, or if the prosecutor’s office erred in approving it.
“I’m not looking to place any blame, I don’t know,” he said.
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For background, read “Suspect from 2008 Subway robbery initiated reopening his case” from Monday March 7, 2016, here
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
No name I wish there was something we could do for you. I know when I get mad at the county I get back at them. But I had to stop doing what I was doing because I received death threats from law enforcement. The corruption runs deep in this Town and always has. I would reccomend getting a lawyer and filing a Tort claim against those responsible. No person should be able to get away with this crime. You should of had your day in court. I know you dont want to be exposed becsuse your the victim, but maybe a protest is in order in ftont of the city hall. It could be friends of rape victim protest. Put the heat on these citu officisls until they break. Just keep at them. Throwing the evidence away is ,bull shit. Maybe its time we throw city officials away. Like I have been saying for years now this county is corrupt. What more proof do we ned Centralia.
Screwus county is what this place is called. There is no justice in the justice system. Thank you pea body slim you are right they do need to make it right. Thank you to be Orr not to be. You are right also they did commit another crime and nothing will probably ever happen and they will keep doing this to others.
Glad to see that this guy won’t be released.
Nope you honor. I robber her put her in a cooler but no I never raped her. I am not that kind of guy. Okay yup off for life I say.
The Lewis County court system didn’t fail, they committed another crime and RE-VICTIMIZED the victim.
Plain and simple.
The entire Lewis County Court system is corrupt through and through.
It’s a perversion of justice.
So sorry No Name, its to bad our Kangaroo cort system has failed you. The Good Ole Boy club should be held accountable. The corruption is right here in our faces Lewis County. Where are the dash and body cameras. Plenty of money for a memorial statue but none for justice.
“What does that say about the Lewis County court system,” Halstead read. “About the Chehalis Police Department?”
Chehalis Police Chief Glenn Schaffer this afternoon said the evidence was not lost, it was destroyed and he’s not sure exactly where along the line the case came apart. Here are the facts from a victim in Lewis County. This issue right here there is a Kangaroo Court here in Lewis County. When is a real Government agencey going to start an Ivestagation into to whats going on in that house of corruption. Its dirty fron the judges all the way to the city police. Only if Don Blair could speak with immunity city officials would be in hiding for the crimes they are and have committed. The whole Lewis county Good Ole Boy system needs to be dismanteled. The whole community knows the courts are Kangaroo. Go into witness protection Don Blair and take them all down. Do the right thing.
This is the hole letter the victim wrote
To whom it may concern,
I have to live with what happened to me every day. Thomas Pleasant should have to live with it also. I never asked to be robbed at gun point or raped and then tied up with an extension cord and put in the walk in cooler. I feel like I’m being victimized by our own legal system because when I finally get my day in court to stand up to the man that changed my life forever I find out that the evidence for my case has been destroyed and he is not even going to be charged with the biggest crime committed that night. Thomas Pleasant RAPED me. I don’t care about his quality of life in prison, it seems to me our system isn’t worried about my quality of life and the fact that I NEED closure. I have been patient and always believed that I would be able to do my part to put him in prison for the crime of RAPING ME. That’s been taken away from me. What does that say about the Lewis county court system and the Chehalis police department who destroyed the evidence for my case? Does anyone care about my rights? I am the victim, why am I the one who has to sacrifice my rights so he can have a nicer time in prison? I have read quite a few things about how worried he is about having a rape conviction on him in prison and I don’t think he should get an easier time in jail. He chose to Rape me, he should have to pay for it. Please don’t belittle what he did to me by brushing it under a rug to clear the case. As hard as it would be I want a chance to stand up to him, a chance to not be the victim, A chance to take control of the nightmare. I deserve that much. I know that’s not going to happen so I’ll ask you to please find something more appropriate to charge him with than assault.
Thank you for your time,