Kent man sentenced to over 10 years for Auburn bank robbery

Published 12:01 pm Thursday, January 29, 2026

A Kent man was sentenced to prison for robbing an Auburn bank at gunpoint in May 2025.

Following a guilty plea on Dec. 23, 2025, a King County Superior Court Judge on Jan. 23 sentenced Michael Peter Esposito, 64, whose last known address was in Kent, to 129 months — nearly 11 years — in prison for first-degree robbery. This charge stems from a May 13 incident where he robbed Umpqua Bank, 4191 A St. SE., Auburn, at gunpoint. According to charging documents, Esposito obtained $1,130 from the robbery.

According to documents, in 2001, Esposito was arrested in Buffalo, N.Y., and Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, for bank robbery. He also has four first-degree robbery convictions from 2009 and one second-degree robbery conviction from 2018 on his record. According to documents, several of the 2009 robberies stemmed from Seattle incidents.

Esposito’s presentence report states that he is aware that his significant criminal history can make it easy for people to define him as a career criminal, but he said he’s tired of being a statistic.

According to the report, Esposito said he got released from prison in 2023, and at the time of the offense, he only received $450 a month from a disability program, so he could not afford his rent because working would remove him from the program and risk his eligibility for other programs. Documents state that he did not want to be homeless again, but he knows his desperation is not a defense or erase the impact his actions had.

Documents state that Esposito had five violent felony convictions and seven nonviolent felony convictions on his criminal record, giving him a sentencing range between 129 and 171 months for the crime of first-degree robbery. The prosecution and Esposito’s defense agreed upon a 129-month sentencing recommendation.

Details of the case

According to documents, at about 11:25 a.m. May 13, officers were dispatched to a silent panic alarm at Umpqua Bank. Dispatch told officers that a robbery had just occurred at the bank, and the suspect fled on foot.

According to documents, the bank teller stated that the suspect, who was described as a white male about 60 years old, wearing a hat, glasses and an orange vest, but no mask, entered the bank holding a black handgun in his left hand. The teller said that the suspect then pointed the handgun at her, demanding that she give him the $100 and $50 bills from her drawer. Additionally, she said the suspect told the teller that he would shoot her if she did not comply.

An officer with a K9 unit attempted to locate the suspect, and during the search, an orange vest was found near the trash area behind the nearby Wingstop restaurant. After reviewing surveillance footage from the area, it appeared that the suspect would have traveled through that area while fleeing, documents stated.

On May 20, officers then received a voicemail from someone who believed the suspect was Esposito and knew where he lived. Officers then retrieved pictures of Esposito from jail images and driver’s license photos, and found that they resembled the suspect.

Additionally, a state Department of Corrections (DOC) officer who had supervised Esposito stated that he was 90% certain the man in the photos was Esposito. The bank teller who was held at gunpoint was then given a photo lineup with Esposito’s face in it, and she stated that she was 50% to 60% sure that the photo of Esposito was the suspect.

On June 12, 2005, officers located Esposito and arrested him in Kent. On Esposito, they found a bag that resembled one held by the bank robbery suspect, and inside it was a firearm. Additionally, Esposito was wearing the same color shoes as the bank robbery suspect.