Addict goes to prison for robbing boy

PALMER — A man who robbed a 13-year-old boy of his 4-wheeler in 2007 will serve a year in prison.

Ryan Burkhart, 25, was arrested in November, charged with robbery. Prior to Friday’ sentence, he’d pleaded guilty to second-degree robbery, a charge that carries a potential sentence of one to three years.

Though they caught him in November, multiple police from different agencies had been looking for him much longer. In addition to the robbery, they say he got involved in a substantial check fraud ring passing bogus checks between Anchorage and the Valley with his girlfriend Angie Minnick. His check fraud case is still pending in Anchorage, where he and Minnick were charged.

At Friday’s hearing, Assistant District Attorney Rick Allen said there was no way to sugarcoat what Burkhart did to bring on the robbery charges.

“A grown man … performed a strong-arm robbery on a child.”

Referencing statements the boy’s mother had made, Allen told Superior Court Judge Vanessa White the robbery had changed the boy’s life forever, making him more suspicious of strangers and just generally jaded about the nature of the place where he lives.

“Kids should be able to trust the people in their community,” Allen said.

Burkhart’s attorney, Richard Payne, said that when Burkhart heard the boy’s mother speak, he turned to him and whispered, “I agree.”

“I think that says a whole lot about how he feels,” Payne said.

Prior to court that day, Payne said, he’d talked to Burkhart’s mother, who was weeping into the phone, but not because Burkhart has to go to prison.

“She’s weeping because she finally has her boy back,” Payne said.

When Burkhart committed the robbery, Payne said, he was strung out on “a pharmacy of drugs.” Indeed, he’d stolen the four-wheeler mainly as a way to get more drugs. But prison has straightened him out.

Burkhart, during his time to speak, apologized to the boy and his mother, and reiterated a lot of what Payne said.

“I honestly can say jail has saved my life.”

White, who has been Burkhart’s judge since shortly after his arrest, agreed with that assessment, recalling the first day she saw Burkhart in court.

“If you looked up ‘addict’ in the dictionary there would be a picture of Mr. Burkhart. He was skinny. He was strung out,” White said.

But now, he’s put on some weight and appears to have gotten himself back together, she said.

“I believe him when he says that jail has been a life-saving experience for him,” the judge said.

She accepted a pre-arranged deal among the lawyers – three years with two suspended for one year to serve.

And, she told the victims, that two years of suspended time is a deterrent, to make sure Burkhart doesn’t do this again. If he does, he’ll have to serve those years in addition to whatever new punishment he gets.

“He’s full of good intentions, but he’s still an addict,” White said.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.