Burglar home for Christmas

PALMER — A Wasilla man who burglarized a slew of Valley businesses back in March and April pleaded guilty Friday to three burglary counts and will spend three and a half years in prison.

But even though he’s been in jail waiting for this resolution, that prison term won’t start until after the new year. Which means, Assistant District Attorney Rick Allen explained, that between Friday and Jan. 4, Rueben Fielder will be on supervised release from jail.

Allen said that while he was pretty sure he could prove Fielder committed six burglaries, there were two dozen or more where the evidence wasn’t as good. Fielder, he said, agreed to pay restitution to all the victims, even the ones he likely wouldn’t be convicted of if the case had gone to trial. But he wanted to be home for Christmas one last time. It was a trade-off, Allen said.

“I’m able to provide some restitution to some of the victims who, frankly, otherwise wouldn’t get any,” Allen said of the agreement. “We have a lot of victims here and I’m trying to do the best to seek justice for all of these people.”

The total amount of restitution Fielder agreed to pay adds up to just over $21,000. The list of business Fielder burglarized include home appliance stores, thrift stores, churches and at least one bookstore. In all of them forced entry was made and valuables were passed up in favor of cash.

Allen said it’s not like Fielder’s going to be a completely free during that time. He’ll be checking in regularly with adult probations, taking drug tests. If he slips up, Allen said, he goes right back to jail.

“It’s tough, I get that,” Allen said to Superior Court Judge Vanessa White, who was being asked to accept the agreement. “But he could have said to every one of these victims, ‘pound sand. I’m going to drag you through a trial.’”

Fielder’s attorney, Elizabeth Verela, said she doesn’t believe her client is going to flee from the law. He was burglarizing businesses to feed a drug habit, a habit his time in jail has broken.

“I think he himself is almost happy; not happy that he’s in jail, but happy that it’s over,” Verela said. “He doesn’t want to spend many, many years in jail. Which will be the consequence if he doesn’t live up to this agreement.”

For his part, when it came time to give a statement, Fielder apologized to everyone — the court, his victims, the public.

“I’m sorry for everyone who was in my path of destruction that I was on,” he said.

And he thanked Detective Sgt. Kelly Turney with the Palmer Police Department, the officer who tracked him down.

“I believe he didn’t just arrest me, he rescued me,” Fielder said.

White, having thanked Fielder and pointed out that his apology mattered, most of all, to his victims, asked him one question, which she was careful to point out he didn’t have to answer:

“Why should I let you out for Christmas?”

Fielder replied that it was important for him to see his family.

“I just want to make sure that they know before I go away for this long time that I’m not the same person,” he said.

“That was certainly the right answer,” White replied. “The wrong answer would have been that it was all about you.”

She said it was his words, not the words from the attorney, that convinced her to accept the agreement. But she also let Fielder know what a short leash he was on. She said she plans to be a judge for a good long while and if Fielder messes up, he’ll be answering to her.

“You are saying the right words to me,” she said. “I hope you mean that. I truly do.”

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