Former UO Journalism Student Turned to Robbery When Gambling Debts Mounted

EUGENE, Ore. -- A former University of Oregon journalism student has been sentenced to a dozen years in prison for a string of robberies he pulled off to help pay gambling debts.

Eugene police Detective Jeff Donaca said Thursday that Samuel Sourikoff had "two lives" for a 19-month period between May 2007 and December 2008, when the 22-year-old robbed a Eugene restaurant four times and targeted jewelry stores in Eugene, Nevada and California.

Sourikoff was arrested following a Dec. 5 robbery at Mazzi's restaurant in south Eugene, when patrons helped police chase him down.

Donaca says Sourikoff once had an academic scholarship, but went into debt after gambling online and at several Nevada casinos.