PORT ORCHARD — A plea bargain agreement has staved off the possibility of life in prison for bank robber Todd R. Prokaskey.

Prokaskey, a 47-year-old Sequim resident, was sentenced on April 28 to 25 years in state prison for robbing Poulsbo’s Timberland Bank, located on Viking Way NE, March 18. Prokaskey slipped a bank teller a note demanding money, and made off with a number of large bills, said Kitsap County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Andy Anderson. Prokaskey led deputies on a three-county chase before officers used spike strips to stop his truck in Clallam County.

Law enforcement officials found $20, $50 and $100 bills believed to belong to the bank in the front seat of his truck, according to police reports.

Anderson said Prokaskey had previous convictions for drug possession and a previous robbery.

According to Washington state’s Three Strikes law, a minimum of 25 years to life in prison is sentenced to serial criminals with three serious offenses.

However, the previous robbery was committed in California, not Washington.

“The unusual part about this case is he had a prior federal conviction with a robbery in San Francisco. The federal robbery statute made it count as conviction but not necessarily a strike in the state of Washington,” Anderson said. “If we had litigated and lost he would only have to serve nine years. If we would have won, it would have been life.”

The soonest Prokaskey is eligible for release is a little more than 16 and a half years.

“The max amount of time he can get off is one-third his sentence,” Anderson said. “That’s if he shows good behavior.”