Man gets 10 years for Billings bank robbery crime

by The Associated Press
| March 26, 2014 9:00 PM

BILLINGS — A Billings man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for an August 2012 bank robbery that netted nearly $10,000.

District Judge Russell Fagg sentenced 43-year-old Joseph Anthony Ferrara on Tuesday to 20 years in prison with 10 suspended for felony robbery. He also ordered him to pay restitution.

Ferrara pleaded guilty in January to robbing a First Interstate Bank branch.

Deputy Yellowstone County Attorney Victoria Callender sought a 20-year sentence with five suspended, saying Ferrara has five other felony convictions.

Public defender Matthew Claus sought a five-year sentence with the Department of Corrections, in part because a weapon wasn’t used and no one was hurt.

Ferrara apologized and said he is no longer the monster that victimizes others to feed his addictions.