Thief Gets 125 Years, Killers Far Less
A man convicted of stealing a gun used in a murder was given 125 years in prison — about a century longer than the actual killers received after taking plea deals.
Christopher G. Nichols, 27, was sentenced Tuesday for gun theft, trafficking in stolen property, being a felon in possession of firearms, and other crimes, said a report in The Spokesman-Review.
The prosecutor, Tim Rasmussen, said sentences for the gun crimes must be served one after another under Washington’s 1995 Hard Time for Armed Crime law.
Nichols and his lawyer took the case to trial after turning down a plea deal that could have reduced his sentence by about 100 years.
Nichols, who had no role in the 2011 killing of Gordon Feist, wept as the sentence was read, Rasmussen said.
Rasmussen defended the sentence, saying the burglary was ”the root of this violent and senseless killing of Mr. Feist, who was acting as a good Samaritan when he was killed.”
”This law has been upheld many times in appellate court,” Rasmussen said.
”It represents a decision by the Legislature to strike at the root of violent crime.”