Tulalip man sentenced for conspiracy to commit robbery

Published 12:01 am Saturday, March 26, 2011

SEATTLE — A Tulalip man was sentenced to two and a half years in prison Friday in U.S. District Court in Seattle.

Kenneth Robinson, 33, pleaded guilty in July to conspiracy to commit robbery, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Robinson, a Tulalip Tribal member, had previously worked at a liquor store on the reservation. On July 28, 2007, he and three other men robbed the store. Robinson physically restrained a store clerk as she tried to run away.

The robbers buried the money near the store, and it was later found. The case went dead until 2009, when the getaway driver confessed to police.

Prosecutors asked for a three-year sentence for Robinson partly because he abused his position of trust in the tribe, officials said. The case was investigated by the FBI and the Tulalip Tribal Police.

Robinson was ordered to undergo substance abuse treatment as part of his sentencing.