The ringleader of a band of masked men who terrorized a Marysville family in July 2004 was sentenced to about 22 years in prison Thursday for his part in the home-invasion robbery. It was prompted by his desire to retrieve a NASCAR racing jacket for his girlfriend.
Charles Lloyd Hiatt, 35, of Marysville got near the high end of the sentencing range for counts of first-degree kidnapping, burglary and robbery.
After he and several companions looted the household, holding a woman and two children at gunpoint, the man of the house was bound with duct tape, stuck in his own van and driven toward a remote location. The man testified that he feared he would be killed.
A Washington State Patrol trooper spotted a faulty headlight on the van and tried to stop it. Two of the invaders attempted to get away, and the van crashed.
“Essentially, these were acts of terrorism,” Superior Court Judge Linda Krese said at sentencing.
While deputy prosecutor Tobin Darrow asked for a high sentence, defense lawyer Juanita Holmes of Seattle said Hiatt deserved a prison term below the standard range.
She argued that Hiatt had endured a terrible childhood and “self-medicated” himself with alcohol and drugs to treat depression.
Darrow told the judge that Hiatt knew what he was doing when he took the drugs, provided a pistol and recruited three other men to help him.
The prosecutor said Hiatt’s girlfriend wanted a racing jacket signed by legendary driver Dale Earnhardt because it had belonged to her former husband. The ex-husband had given it to the robbery victims.
The girlfriend attempted to get the jacket back from the victims, resulting in a confrontation between her and the man who was kidnapped. Darrow told the judge that Hiatt not only wanted the jacket, but also wanted to teach the man a lesson for being rude to his girlfriend.
In court, Hiatt told the judge he was sorry for the pain he had caused the people in the house, as well as his own family.
“I hope in time the wounds I caused in their hearts will go away,” Hiatt said.
Two other men have been convicted in the case, and another is scheduled to go to trial next week.
Krese told Hiatt he was the one who set these crimes in motion, and the public expected serious punishment.
“It’s hard for any of us to imagine the terror of this family,” Krese said.
Reporter Jim Haley: 425-339-3447 or haley@heraldnet.com.
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