Persistent burglar poised to get prison time again

PALMER — A 28-year-old man charged with 12 felony counts of burglary and theft will receive a five-year prison term, according to a deal outlined in court Monday.

Justin Anderson, of Wasilla, had little to say as he entered his guilty plea to a single count of burglary before Superior Court Judge Kari Kristiansen. His attorney, Sam Westergren, said he wanted the judge to order his client’s prison term of seven years with two suspended be concurrent to his sentence on federal charges, rather than consecutive.

Details of the federal sentence were not discussed at the hearing, but a previous press release from the U.S. Attorney’s office said Anderson and two accomplices, Joshua Cowley, 31, and Brian Bosch, 25, were hit with federal gun charges for which the penalty was up to 10 years in prison.

Though the lawyers in the state case had planned to wrap the case up, upon getting notice of Westergren’s request, prosecutor Kerry Corliss said she’d need a little more time. When Kristiansen went to set a hearing date for late September, Anderson chimed in.

“Can we speed that up?” he asked, and a date two weeks earlier was chosen.

Anderson was arrested late last year, fresh off a less-than-one-year prison sentence on a previous burglary case. His new case, including 14 counts of theft and burglary, was filed Oct. 1.

In an affidavit he filed with the case, Alaska State Trooper investigator Curtis Vik writes that on Sept. 4 a man arrived at his home on Lee Ann Drive in Palmer to find a young man standing in his yard. The young man, who turned out to be Anderson, told the homeowner he was looking for “Shirley.”

According to the homeowner, Anderson tried to leave but the homeowner wouldn’t let him. That’s when he noticed his front door had been kicked in. Anderson bolted.

The homeowner gave troopers a description of the Ford Ranger Anderson left in. They tracked down its owner, who turned out to be Anderson’s twin brother. Anderson drove the same pickup to an interview with troopers at the Wasilla Police Department two days later. Anderson matched the homeowner’s description better than his twin, and the homeowner picked him from a photo lineup.

Vik’s affidavit went on to link Anderson to four other burglaries in Palmer and Wasilla between July and September. In each instance, items stolen in the burglaries ended up pawned in Anchorage with Anderson’s name on the pawn slips.

Anderson was no stranger to Vik. The trooper investigator had busted Anderson, Bosch and Cowley back in 2007 for a string of Valley burglaries in which items stolen showed up later in local pawnshops. Bosch and Cowley were charged with their own list of felonies. Cowley has since reached the end of his case. Prison records Monday afternoon showed him as incarcerated at the Cook Inlet Pre-Trial Facility in Anchorage.

Bosch, who as late as November was still at large, has since been apprehended. Prison records list him as a resident of the Anchorage Jail. His court case is still winding its way through the system.

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