SEATTLE (AP) — A former Army Ranger originally sentenced to 24 years for leading a 2006 military-style Tacoma bank robbery has been given an additional 20 years for assault and trying to hire a hit man to kill a federal prosecutor.
After his sentencing Monday in federal court, 23-year-old Luke E. Sommer faces 44 years in prison. The former Peachland, British Columbia, resident pleaded guilty in January to assault for attacking a robbery co-defendant behind bars and to offering an undercover FBI agent as much as $20,000 to kill an assistant U.S. attorney. The assault victim suffered a minor stab wound.
Sommer was the mastermind behind an Aug. 7, 2006, robbery of a Bank of America branch. The five robbers wore soft body armor to protect themselves in case of a shootout with police. Several carried AK-47 machine guns. They escaped with more than $50,000 but arrests came quickly after a citizen noted the license plate of their car.
