Hard time for men who robbed elderly woman for her pot

PALMER — Two men have pleaded guilty to robbery and theft charges springing from a December 2007 robbery of an elderly Talkeetna woman for her marijuana.

In exchange for their pleas, Travis Duley Wharton, 20, of Talkeetna, will serve between five and seven years in prison and his accomplice, Tanner Camoza, 20, of Anchorage, will serve between four and seven years.

The pair entered their pleas before Superior Court Judge Eric Smith on Wednesday. In exchange for the robbery plea, charges of kidnapping, assault and burglary were dismissed.

According to an affidavit Alaska State Troopers investigator Terrence Shanigan filed in the case, the Talkeetna woman reported she was awakened at about 4:30 a.m. New Year’s Eve by a knock on the door of her home at Mile 4 Montana Creek Road.

The man on the other side of the door asked to use her phone. When she cracked her door to hand her phone out to the man, two men, one armed with a knife, forced their way inside, the woman told troopers. She said the two men started punching her in the head and upper body. At some point she managed to grab a large MagLite flashlight and smack one of them in the face.

When her Labrador retrievers tried to intervene, the woman said one of the two men turned on the dogs, kicking and hitting them. One attacker referred to the other one as Travis.

The woman told troopers, “During the assault she became disoriented, briefly lost consciousness and feared that ‘Travis’ was going to kill her,” Shanigan says in his report.

The woman said her attackers stole a .22-caliber rifle, $5,000 in jewelry and some cash.

Through interviews with the woman and with Wharton’s guilt-stricken girlfriend, who knew the woman, troopers were able to tie Wharton to the case.

Comoza eventually turned up two months later during a theft investigation Soldotna troopers were running. He told troopers he’d been thinking of turning himself in.

According to Shanigan’s affidavit, Comoza eventually confessed to his role in the robbery. He said he and Wharton found out the woman was growing marijuana and had 25 plants ready to be “cropped.” Comoza said Wharton came up with the idea for a robbery.

He blamed Wharton for beating the woman and said the fight had broken out while Comoza was out of the room.

Comoza told troopers he and Wharton took the marijuana plants, drove to Anchorage and split it between themselves.

After his confession, Comoza was jailed and troopers rounded up Wharton. Both men were ordered held without bail at the end of Wednesday’s hearing. They will be sentenced March 13.

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