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Oregon Bank Robber Gets Parole, Robs 2 More Banks

By Christopher Coble, Esq. on November 04, 2015 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

Supervised release works for some ex-cons. Time spent in halfway houses can help some recently released offenders acclimate to life outside and more easily transition into life after prison. Others, not so much.

Phillip Allen Nelson didn't quite take to supervised release, and while there the convicted bank robber knocked over two more banks less than a month after he had been paroled.

2 Bank Robberies, 1 Week

Nelson was convicted of robbing the Pacific Continental Bank in Eugene in March 2009. His first stint in supervised release was scheduled to start in 2014, but was revoked and he got another six months in custody. He spent another two months in custody in Multnomah County from August to October when he was given another six months of supervised release at a residential recovery house.

Nelson allegedly escaped from that halfway house just 21 days into his stay. On Halloween, he walked into a Portland Wells Fargo Bank branch at 12005 S.E. Division Street and demanded money, but left before obtaining any cash. Two days later, he demanded "hundreds and fifties" from a teller at the US Bank in the 160000 block of SE Division Street, and this time he walked out with $2,899.

"Go! Go! Go!"

Nelson's run didn't last long. An officer spotted him nearby and took him into custody. A woman admitted to dropping Nelson off near the bank, where he asked her to wait for him. When he got back, he jumped into the back seat yelling, "Go! Go! Go!'' She told investigators she had no idea Nelson had robbed a bank.

Nelson is probably not getting supervised release any time soon. He's likely facing two federal bank robbery charges, each carrying a possible 20-year sentence. And if he is paroled again, he may want to be on his best behavior in the next halfway house he sees.

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