PAYSON, AZ — A man accused of robbing a Payson casino with another employee has been sentenced to five years in federal prison.
Prosecutors say 32-year-old Ryan Pearson of Payson had pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm in relation to a violent crime.
The FBI says Pearson and Armando Pablo Ochoa were dressed in black, and wore hoods and masks when they demanded employees at the Mazatzal Casino open a vault.
When employees didn't immediately comply, witnesses say Pearson and Ochoa each fired their weapons.
Nobody was injured, but authorities say the robbers fled the casino on the Tonto Apache reservation with more than $650,000 in cash.
Pearson and Ochoa were arrested about a month after the robbery last July.
Ochoa was sentenced earlier this year to 10 years in prison.
