A Tacoma man was sentenced to seven years in prison last week for the 2023 robbery of a Winlock gas station.
Palekasala I. Taupau, 23, pleaded guilty to single counts of second-degree robbery and third-degree theft in Lewis County Superior Court on March 12, just prior to his sentencing.
Taupau originally faced up to life in prison after being charged with first-degree robbery, first-degree assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a stolen vehicle and third-degree theft.
Those charges were amended as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors.
Taupau will serve his seven-year sentence — which includes 18 months of community custody — consecutively with other sentences out of Pierce County and Umatilla, Oregon.
According to the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office, Taupau was recently sentenced in Pierce County to over 16 years in prison. He will serve the Washington sentences after completing his time in Oregon.
Taupau’s codefendant, Olotele Pouesi, 27, pleaded guilty last month to single counts of first-degree robbery, possession of a stolen vehicle and third-degree theft.
Pouesi — who has not yet been sentenced — still faces an additional count of first-degree assault. Her next hearing is scheduled for March 26.
Court documents indicate the parties have reached a plea agreement that will be presented prior to sentencing.
According to previous Chronicle reporting, investigators used DNA collected from a dumped water bottle to connect Taupau and Pouesi to the stolen vehicle used during the robbery.
A Lewis County sheriff’s deputy arrived at the scene of the robbery on July 8, 2023, and took reports of a masked suspect who had pointed what appeared to be a firearm at the store clerk and demanded money from the register.
The clerk said about $450 had been stolen from the register.
The deputy reviewed security footage and noted the suspect’s car — which was later confirmed to have been stolen in Seattle — and another suspect in the driver’s seat.
The next day, the deputy attended to a littering complaint of trash dumped in a man’s driveway during the night. The driveway was near the gas station. The deputy searched through the trash and found a vehicle registration that matched with the stolen car, along with an air wedge tool commonly used for robberies, a blanket, mail from Vancouver and an empty water bottle.
On Feb. 5, 2025, nearly 19 months later, DNA from the crime lab came back on the water bottle and showed a likely connection to Taupau and Pouesi.
Investigators learned the stolen car had allegedly been used during the theft of a mail crate in Vancouver. Surveillance footage from the mail theft reportedly showed two suspects that matched with suspects from the gas station robbery, as well as photos of Taupau and Pouesi.
Investigators later learned Taupau and Pouesi were already in prison.
A detective interviewed Taupau, who allegedly denied robbing the gas station. Taupau did, however, have a tattoo on his wrist that resembled the one from the robbery suspect, as seen in the original security footage.
Another detective interviewed Pouesi. Pouesi, too, denied robbing the gas station.
Investigators collected buccal swabs from both. They matched the DNA results from the lab.
The court issued arrest warrants for both defendants with a bail of $250,000 on Aug. 18, 2025.
Pouesi was booked into the Lewis County Jail on Sept. 22, 2025, prior to her preliminary appearance in Lewis County Superior Court the following day.
Taupau made his preliminary appearance in Lewis County Superior Court on March 10, 2026.
During the hearing, both Senior Deputy Prosecutor Scott Jackson and defense attorney Rachael Tiller indicated that Taupau wanted to resolve the case.
Taupau entered his guilty plea two days later.
According to court documents, Taupau has previous convictions in Umatilla for second-degree robbery and possession of a stolen vehicle for crimes committed on Aug. 31, 2023.
Taupau has other convictions in Pierce County for first-degree robbery, possession of a stolen firearm, possession of a stolen vehicle and eluding, among other similar offenses.
According to court documents, those crimes occurred in April, June, July and August of 2023.
For previous Chronicle coverage on the case, visit https://tinyurl.com/549drhxw.
