Illegal immigrant gets 40 years
in bank robbery
‘We simply can’t give you a chance’
Life spiraled out of control, attorney says

By BRIAN HUBER - GM Today Staff

March 22, 2007


Nicolas Navarrete walks into the courtroom Wednesday with a bailiff at his side in the Waukesha County Courthouse. Navarrete will serve 40 years in prison after robbing a downtown bank and shooting at police officers during an attempted getaway.

WAUKESHA - An illegal immigrant who robbed a Waukesha bank and then shot at police officers chasing him was sentenced to 40 years in prison Wednesday.

Nicolas Navarrete will be 83 when he is eligible to be released from prison, at which point he will face another 27 years on extended supervision. He was sentenced after being convicted of armed robbery, fleeing police and attempted homicide for the April 28, 2006 robbery of the Chase Bank at Broadway and East Avenue in Waukesha .

“If you could give me a chance. My children need me,” Navarrete pleaded through an interpreter.

“Your conduct can’t be described as anything other than so horrific on April 28 we simply can’t give you a chance ... to do it again,” Circuit Court Judge Lee S. Dreyfus Jr. told him.

Navarrete, armed with a gun and extra clips and wearing a wig, went into the bank, pointed a gun at a teller, and fled with about $25,000. As police chased him at high speeds to the area of Highway 59 and Sunset Drive, Navarrete fired at officers.

Police officer Harold Moilanen said he was only a few feet away and alongside Navarrete when he heard three shots fired in his direction.

District Attorney Brad Schimel said the officers chasing Navarrete handled themselves with courage and selflessness in what was unquestionably one of the most frightening days of their lives.

“All officers hope to go their entire careers without days like this,” Schimel said. “They faced head-on that day the possibility they wouldn’t go home to their families. ... This is a tremendous emotional scar for them.”

Schimel added it was “somewhat of a miracle no one was killed that day.”

Defense attorney Anthony Rosario said Navarrete’s behavior was inexplicable. With a history of being a hardworking father and husband and no criminal acts, Navarrete’s actions don’t make sense unless they are considered as part of an ill-fated suicide attempt.

Rosario said Navarrete’s wife was diagnosed with cancer and had racked up about $60,000 in medical bills.

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