Man gets life for yogurt robbery

EVERETT, Wash., April 9 (UPI) -- A man who robbed a check-cashing agency by claiming a pack of yogurt was a bomb has received a life sentence under Washington's three-strikes law.

James Robert Thorne, 66, of Everett was convicted of two robberies in the 1980s. The Everett Herald reported. In 1994, he was sentenced to life for robbing a hospital gift shop with a BB gun but won an appeal on the grounds that his lawyer did not consider an insanity defense.

In his most recent crime, Thorne got away with $2,000 after claiming that he had a bomb hidden in a bag that actually held a four-pack of Dannon strawberry yogurt.

Gabriel Rothstein, the defense lawyer, argued at Tuesday's hearing that the judge should consider Thorne's history of mental illness.

"There's no mitigation for mental illness," Rothstein said. "The court has no discretion to consider mental illness. He's been in and out of institutions his entire life. He's not some criminal mastermind who should go to prison for the rest of his life."

Superior Court Judge Gerard Knight said that Thorne might not do physical harm to anyone.

"I just have a strong belief Mr. Thorne is going to re-offend and continue with his criminal behavior until he dies," the judge said.