Three men convicted in federal court in connection with a burglary of guns from a Monroe pawn shop Christmas Eve of 2006 received stiff sentences from a judge Thursday, April 24.

Duane Miller, 26, and Stephen A. Larson, 39, both of Monroe, each plead guilty to Conspiracy and Theft of Firearms from a Federal Firearms Licensee for the Christmas Eve burglary, in which the two men broke through a back door into Sky Valley Traders on U.S. 2 in Monroe and stole 11 guns. Miller and Larson then took the guns to the home of Michael J. Keyes, 19, of Woodinville. The three men then traded or sold the guns to others.

Following an investigation by the ATF and the Monroe Police Department, the men were identified and arrested. Two of the men, Keyes and Miller, both are currently serving state prison sentences, and received federal sentences in addition to those.

Keyes, who had an extensive criminal history including crimes of violence, property crimes and firearms crimes, got the most severe sentence following his plea of guilty to Conspiracy and Theft of Firearms form a Federal Firearms Licensee.

“At sentencing, U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman said in 20 years on the bench she had never seen a 19-year-old with such an extensive criminal history,” said Emily Langlie, Public Affairs Officer for the Unites States Attorney's Office. January of last year, Keyes was arrested for repeatedly ramming a police cruiser with his car. Ten months later, he was convicted of Second Degree Assault of another inmate at King County Jail.

Keyes was sentenced to serve 57 months, nearly five years, in state prison for that assault. When he has completed that sentence, Pechman ordered that he serve another 77 month, more than six years, in federal prison, for the gun charges.

Larson too had a significant criminal history, including a history of violent crime, and Pechman ordered him to serve 75 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release. She also ordered him to complete drug treatment. "Your crimes show me that you are dangerous when you are high,” she told the man at sentencing.
At the time of his sentencing, Miller was already serving 17 months in state prison for possession of one of the stolen firearms. To that, Pechman added 20 months of federal prison time.

All three men were ordered to pay $4,048 in restitution to Sky Valley Traders, the value of the stolen guns. Some of those guns are still missing, which adds to the seriousness of the offense, prosecutors said when asking for significant sentences for the offenders.

“The effects of their deliberate and dangerous conduct continues to ripple thought our community by way of the stolen guns that still have not been recovered,” said Adam Cornell, a Special Assistant United States Attorney.

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