Man charged with evidence tampering

PALMER -- Alaska State Troopers have arrested a Big Lake man they say created false documents intended to conceal the theft of a Seadoo watercraft and trailer from a Big Lake cabin in May 2003.

James R. Watford, 25, was taken into custody Jan. 13 and lodged at Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility with bond set at $10,000. He was charged with two counts of tampering with physical evidence, a felony.

According to charging documents, Watford "cooperated with two friends to create notarized statements that he knew to be lies, with the intent to mislead an Alaska State Trooper in a criminal investigation."

The alleged crime came to light when a Big Lake resident, who had reported the theft of his Seadoo and trailer March 7, 2003, discovered the items two days later at Red White and Blue Auto Sales in Anchorage.

"Investigation revealed that James Watford had sold the vehicles to Red White and Blue Auto Sales as part of a trade-in for the purchase of a vehicle," charging documents said. "Watford then produced notarized statements from Jerame Borgeson and Robert Adams which stated they saw Watford purchase the vehicles from a now-deceased individual, Frank Jones, who was killed during a burglary in Big Lake on April 24, 2003."

Borgeson and Adams said in an interview with troopers that Watford asked them to sign a statement, but they had not witnessed the alleged purchase, Trooper Dave Willson said in an affidavit.

Watford reportedly admitted to troopers Jan. 13 that neither Adams nor Borgeson witnessed the transaction but said he did not ask them to lie, explaining it was their idea.

"He admitted submitting the statements to AST, knowing they were false, but didn't think he had done anything wrong," the affidavit said.