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Third man sentenced in Missoula robbery

The Associated Press | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 11 years, 8 months AGO
by The Associated Press
| August 30, 2013 10:00 PM

MISSOULA (AP) — A third defendant has been sentenced in a case in which five roommates allegedly conspired to rob a Missoula convenience store to help pay their rent.

District Judge John Larson sentenced Ikaika Kamaka, 20, to two years of intensive supervision for his role in the Jan. 8 robbery.

Prosecutors alleged Kamaka went into the store to purchase tea and ensure the cash register would open before three other men entered the store. Surveillance video shows two men beating the clerk with baseball bats. The men then left with a cash register containing just over $90.

The clerk, Patrick Bendig, had bought the tea for Kamaka, a regular customer, prosecutors said.

Bendig, who suffered a skull fracture that was repaired with a titanium plate, has argued that Kamaka should be punished the most severely for not making the choice to stop the robbery.

Kamaka has said he tried to persuade the others not to rob the store but feared being kicked out of the apartment and not having a place to live.

Kamaka pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery. He was sentenced Thursday to seven years with the Department of Corrections with five suspended and ordered to contribute to $6,700 in restitution for the clerk’s lost wages. He’ll be on parole and will have to wear a GPS tracking device.

Kamaka, who is from Hawaii, said he had his brother had been living with co-defendants Ture-Adon Thibodeaux, Andrew Badger and Cruz Bernardi for about a month before the robbery.

Thibodeaux pleaded guilty to assault with a weapon and conspiracy to commit robbery and has been sentenced to 10 years in prison. Bernardi, who said he was the lookout and supplied the baseball bats, was given a five-year suspended sentence

Devon Kamaka has pleaded not guilty to aggravated assault and conspiracy to commit robbery, and is set to go to trial Sept. 16.

Badger was charged with conspiracy to commit robbery and assault. He has a status hearing Sept. 17.

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