A man who stole $2,000 from a video poker machine in Saipan was sentenced this week to 10 years in prison.

According to media reports out of Saipan, the capital city of the Northern Mariana Islands, an island chain nation in the South Pacific, Jesse Saralu staged the daring daylight robbery at a poker arcade in Saipan on March 21, 2008.

Saralu was playing video poker at the arcade when he called an attendant over, claimed the machine he was playing had malfunctioned and asked the attendant to check the machine, media reports said.

When the attendant–Myong Kim–opened the machine to check it, Saralu choked Kim from behind until the attendant passed out, media reports said.

Saralu then robbed Kim of about $2,000 and fled, media reports said Saralu was apprehended by police two days later, and was charged with robbery, theft and assault and battery, media reports said.

In addition to the prison sentence, the judge ordered Saralu to pay $2,000 in restitution, a $500 fine plus court fees, media reports said.

(E-mail Tom Somach at tomsomach@yahoo.com.)