More than two years and 80 court appearances after John Williams III walked into the Umpqua Bank in Arbuckle with a handgun, the 43-year-old Woodland man learned his fate was a long stint in state prison.
Colusa County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey A. Thompson sentenced Williams on Tuesday to a total of 16 years in state prison after a jury convicted him of four punishable felonies on Oct. 7.
Thompson said Williams has engaged in criminal behavior his entire adult life and had nine prior felonies, including robbery, grand theft, and selling drugs. Thompson also called the robbery a sophisticated plan that was likely only thwarted by happenstance and the ability of people in a small community to react quickly to circumstances out of the ordinary.
Williams’ combined sentences includes five years for robbing bank teller Jessica Ariano of approximately $2,300. He was sentenced to 10 years for the use of a firearm in the commission of the robbery, which he will serve consecutive to the five, and another year consecutive for aiding and abetting his cousin, Michael Gene Jones Jr., in robbing bank teller Kelise Alvarnaz of nearly an identical amount of cash.
Jones pleaded guilty to the robbery on Aug. 27, 2020 and is serving nine years in the Correctional Training Facility in Soledad.
Prior to Williams’ sentencing hearing, Thompson on Monday had denied Williams’ motion for a mistrial.
Williams, who represented himself during the criminal proceedings and at trial, still maintains his innocence despite overwhelming DNA evidence that connected him to clothing tossed from a stolen vehicle during a high speed pursuit by a Colusa County Sheriff’s deputy. Williams also believes there was a conspiracy by the Colusa County District Attorney’s Office to withhold and/or tamper with exculpatory evidence, which Thompson said was baseless.
Williams and Jones reportedly planned the robbery well. They had entered the bank with handguns drawn, and then exited the bank with $4,595 in cash in less than a minute.
The pair had likely thought they would be able to make a quick getaway before law enforcement arrived by traveling back country roads to a safe house, believed to belong to Jones’ sister, who was living in the area where the two bank robbers eventually escaped on foot.
The Friday afternoon robbery, the day after the Fourth of July bank holiday, was thought to be thwarted only because of the presence of 18-year-old Diego Rubio at the ATM, who witnessed the incident and their getaway, just seconds before he ran into the street and flagged down Fire Chief Casey Cox, a passerby, who followed the robbers’ vehicle until Deputy Robert Ladd picked up the pursuit.
Because Wiliams and Jones both have felony criminal histories, the DNA acquired from garments worn in the robbery, which they tossed during the pursuit, matched the DNA on file in the FBI database.
While the jury convicted Williams of a second special allegation for the use of a firearm in connection to aiding and abetting Jones, Thompson said adding additional time onto his 16-year sentence would make Williams’ total punishment unfair and disproportionate to the sentence given to Jones, his partner in the crime.
While representing himself, Williams filed dozens of motions, many which Thompson ruled frivolous.
Williams on Monday had even asked the Judge for credit for the time he served in San Quentin on a parole violation, which he was serving in connection to another crime.
Thompon denied the request, but awarded Williams credit for 460 actual days served in the Colusa County Jail plus 68 days for good conduct or “half-time” credits, for a total of 528.
Williams and Jones have both been ordered to pay full restitution to the bank for the $4,595 they stole, which was not recovered when the pair were arrested three months after the robbery.
Williams will be subject to three years parole or Post Release Community Supervision upon his release from prison. ■