News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Gregory William Hook was sentenced on Friday, July 2, to 24 months in prison for the January 16 robbery of a service station and convenience store in Sisters.
Hook was an 18-year-old Sisters High School student when he robbed the Sisters Pumphouse at knifepoint. He pleaded guilty to second degree robbery on May 13.
Hook will be eligible for the "boot camp" program administered by the Oregon Correctional Institute. The young Sisters man could have been sentenced to 70 months in prison under tough Measure 11 sentencing guidelines.
Judge Michael Adler decided that Hook should receive a lesser sentence because of his age and lack of prior criminal record. The judge also determined that none of the victims of the robbery were in "reasonable fear of imminent, significant physical injury."
But Adler made it clear to Hook that the young man had come very close to spending nearly six years in prison.
"You have come as close as anyone I have seen in this courtroom in dodging the Measure 11 bullet," Adler said.
Only one of the robbery victims testified at the sentencing hearing.
John Culver, 17, was threatened with the knife in the incident.
"At that time I was in fear for my life," Culver testified. "I did not know if I was going home."
Judge Adler acknowledged Culver's fear and said his testimony was credible. However, he noted that Culver knew who the robber was, despite the fact that Hook was wearing a ski mask.
"He knew, essentially, that he was dealing with a classmate," Adler said.
The judge also noted that during the robbery Culver did not comply with Hook's demand that he stay put until Culver was prompted by another employee. That indicated to the judge that Culver was not in fear of immediate harm.
Another victim's statements to police indicated that she was not in fear of immediate harm and that she believed "if we gave him the money, no one would get hurt."
Hook took $201 in the robbery. During the sentencing hearing, he attempted to explain his state of mind when he pulled down his ski mask and entered the store.
"I wasn't even there to rob the store," he said. "I was there to make a phone call."
He said he had been fighting with his girlfriend and his parents and felt directionless and upset after the end of the Sisters Outlaws championship football season. Hook was a standout player for the Outlaws.
"I came off a spotless football season," Hook told the judge. "If you don't know what that's like, it's like being a king. When that was over, I was lost."
Hook also admitted to drinking half of a fifth-gallon bottle of whisky prior to the robbery. He told the judge he would not comment on any other drug use except to say he was not on drugs when he robbed the store.
That admission answered questions raised by some community members as to whether Hook was under the influence of drugs during the robbery.
Bob Macauley, Sisters High School dean of students and Hook's football coach testified that he had asked Hook's mother if Greg had been using drugs, specifically methamphetamine (speed).
"That would be a question that came to my mind right away - was there drugs involved?" Macauley said.
Assistant district attorney Patrick Flaherty asked Macauley about the possibility of steroid use by Hook.
"I don't think I ever even asked if he was (using steroids) because I never saw the primary or secondary signs that he was," Macauley said. "I never suspected that Greg was using steroids."
Former Sisters High School Principal Dennis Dempsey also testified on Hook's behalf. Both Dempsey and Macauley said that they were shocked and baffled by Hook's actions, especially that he would rob a store where he had worked and where he was well- known as a hometown foot-ball hero.
Dempsey said Hook "seemed to me, at least from my professional perspective, to be asking for help in a real strange way."
Dempsey and Macauley both urged the judge to consider the boot camp option.
Adler said that their testimony was significant, noting that he had never seen a principal and a dean of students testify on behalf of a criminal defendant.
"You owe a lot of people a debt of gratitude," the judge told Hook. "So don't let them down."
Hook will be incarcerated until a slot opens in the boot camp program. The judge also imposed three years of post-prison supervision and recommended a mental health evaluation, anger management counseling and a substance abuse evaluation with treatment if appropriate.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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