A Bigfork man was sentenced in federal court for robbing multiple banks in western Montana, including institutions in Lakeside and Bigfork.
U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy sentenced Steven Dee Norred, 56, to 171 months – a little over 14 years – in prison and $88,012 in restitution for bank robbery and possession of a firearm during the commission violent crime charges.
Norred pleaded guilty to the charges. According to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana’s Office, the first robbery he was sentenced for occurred in September 2010, during which he entered the First Interstate Bank in Bigfork and told a cashier to fill up a camouflage backpack with money, netting $6,553 in cash.
He was wearing a black motorcycle helmet, a black jacket, goggles or glasses, and a dark-colored bandana around his neck, and witnesses placed his height at between 5-feet-5-inches tall and 5-feet-7-inches tall.
Norred is roughly 5-feet-4-inches tall.
In November 2010, Norred struck again, this time at Glacier Bank’s Lakeside branch, wearing an orange motorcycle helmet. Using the same method with the camouflage backpack, Norred left the bank with approximately $46,000.
The following April, Norred robbed First Valley Bank’s Seeley Lake branch, demanding that employees put the cash – $7,687 – into a black and blue backpack. He left the scene on a blue ATV and headed north up Highway 83.
Norred struck Bitterroot Valley Bank’s St. Regis branch in May 2011, once again wearing a black motorcycle helmet and leaving the bank on a motorcycle with $13,592 in his camouflage backpack.
And in September 2011, Norred robbed the Lakeside Glacier Bank again, this time revealing a firearm in a holster. Upon netting around $14,180, Norred left, but a customer followed Norred’s motorcycle for a while before losing sight of him. Shortly after, however, the customer saw a black truck emerge from the woods and head north on U.S. Highway 93.
The customer reported the license plate number, and authorities eventually pulled the truck over. They found bait bills from the robbery and a Sig Saur, SigPro SP2340, .40-caliber handgun in a holster.
All of the banks Norred robbed were FDIC insured.
There is no parole in the federal system. Norred does have a chance to earn time off for good behavior, but the sentence reduction cannot exceed 15 percent of the total sentence.
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 participated in the bank robbery investigations.