Motorcycle bandit gets 14-year prison sentence

The motorcycle bandit is heading to prison.

Steven Dee Norred, the 56-year-old Bigfork man who robbed four banks — one of them twice — was sentenced to more than 14 years in prison by U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy Thursday during court proceedings in Missoula.

Norred was dubbed the motorcycle bandit because he wore a motorcycle helmet during four of the crimes and fled several of the banks on either a motorcycle or an all-terrain vehicle.

In addition to his jail time — 87 months for the robberies and 84 additional months for the use of a weapon during one of the crimes — Norred will serve five years of supervised release and was ordered to pay more than $88,000 in restitution and a $600 special assessment.

Norred began his spree by robbing the First Interstate Bank in Bigfork on Sept. 24, 2010, escaping with more than $6,500.

On Nov. 10, 2010, he hit Glacier Bank in Lakeside, taking roughly $46,000. He went on to rob First Valley Bank in Seeley Lake on April 5, 2011, stealing more than $7,600, before robbing Bitterroot Valley Bank in St. Regis on May 31, 2011, taking more than $13,500.

Norred finally was captured after robbing the Lakeside branch of Glacier Bank for a second time on Sept. 28, 2011, escaping on a motorcycle with more than $14,000. As he fled, a witness followed him on his motorcycle and was able to provide identifying information, including the license plate number of the truck Norred was driving after ditching the motorcycle.

Norred also had been suspected of robbing Muralt’s Truck Stop in Missoula on Sept. 6, 2009, but was not charged for that crime.

According to Glacier Bank President Bob Nystuen, who was on hand during the sentencing to deliver a victim impact statement on behalf of his employees, Norred also must register as a violent offender.

“I had filed a statement that basically said unlike a computer memory chip, where the memory can be erased, the tragedy of these bank robberies in the minds of the bank employees can never be erased,” Nystuen said. “I know they wonder if the next person walking in the lobby is going to be another bank robber, and that’s unsettling for them.”

He added that Norred’s “callous acts” put the lives of his employees at risk.

Nystuen said the defense called one witness, Scott Ping, a Whitefish area contractor and longtime friend of Norred’s. The defense leaned on Norred’s financial situation, citing the decline of the real estate and construction industries during the recession.

Norred had been a building contractor with his own company, Flathead River Construction.

Norred had faced serious financial struggles, filing for bankruptcy along with his wife in December 2009, citing more than $2 million in debt. That debt was discharged in March 2010, with the Norreds allowed to retain a single vehicle and roughly $2,350 worth of property.

Nystuen said Judge Molloy commented on Norred’s financial difficulties while making his ruling.

“In his comments, the judge talked a lot about the idea that the measure of a man really comes during a time of challenge,” he said.

Nystuen shared his own thoughts on the situation.

“Our banks work with troubled borrowers every day,” he said. “There are countless solutions available to people other than bank robbery.”

The investigation prior to Norred’s arrest was a cooperative effort involving the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office, the Missoula County Sheriff’s Office, the Mineral County Sheriff’s Office and the Montana Highway Patrol.