VENTURA : Robber Sentenced to 20 Years Amid Tight Security

Amid tightened security, 30-year-old Anthony LaPierre was sentenced Thursday to 20 years in prison for robbing a motel and attempting to rob a supermarket.

Because of LaPierre’s previous escapes from custody, a metal detector was set up outside the courtroom of Superior Court Judge James M. McNally during the sentencing. Extra sheriff’s deputies were stationed in the courtroom, as they were during LaPierre’s trial in December.

McNally ordered LaPierre to serve the sentence after he finishes serving a 27-year sentence in Hawaii for robbery. While he was in Hawaii, he escaped three times from custody, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert D. Meyers.

Meyers said that while LaPierre was being held at Ventura County Jail, he dismantled a portion of a metal light and dug a tiny hole through the jail wall.

Last Dec. 17, a Ventura County jury found LaPierre guilty of three counts of armed robbery in connection with the 1989 holdups of a Ventura motel and two motel guests. He also was convicted of attempting to rob a Ventura supermarket a few days later.

After the robberies, LaPierre fled to Hawaii, Meyers said. After his arrest and convictions there, he was returned to Ventura County, the prosecutor said.