Teens enter pleas, receive sentences in beating case

PALMER -- Three juveniles entered guilty pleas in the Christmas Eve beating of a Sutton man and were sentenced to probation and community service in closed court proceedings through the Division of Juvenile Justice in July.

Michael Bannon, 17, Russell Blakeman, 17, and Brandon Wallace, 17, were each convicted of second-degree assault in the Dec. 24 beating of Brian Blubaugh, 37, at a Sutton trailer. They will serve no jail time. Blubaugh was hospitalized a week for internal and head injuries after being repeatedly hit with a two-by-four-inch board and a log. Hot wax had been poured on him, and the juveniles urinated on him before abandoning him in the trailer, according to Alaska State Trooper reports. Blubaugh crawled and walked across a frozen yard to get help.

The assault happened at a party in the abandoned Sutton trailer with numerous young people in attendance. Blubaugh had bought alcohol after three young men came to his home before midnight and asked him to come with them to "discuss business," according information given to troopers.

Bannon, Blakeman and Wallace were ordered to complete community service and a period of probation time. Wallace was also ordered to pay restitution. A fourth person, Sarah MacCallum, has yet to enter a plea.

Sean Owens, probation supervisor at Mat-Su Youth Facility, said the three boys will be under supervision. The system for settling juvenile criminal cases is different from adult criminal court in its focus on rehabilitation rather than punishment, Owens said.

"They will be held accountable. They have to make amends to the victim and the community through work service," Owens said. "Whether you want to call that punishment or not, the goal is to teach them lessons, to hold them accountable, to address the needs of the victim and community to be made whole. The goal is to rehabilitate juveniles so they don't come back into our system. In our recommendation to the court, all that is addressed."

Brian Blubaugh has filed a victim's impact statement that outlines what happened to him, but while the case has been in court he has not spoken with the media. His parents, Forest and Betty Blubaugh, have attended the hearings and otherwise sought help in bringing the juveniles to justice. The Federal Bureau of Investigation completed a report on the matter and concluded that the crime "may have been racially motivated," according to a letter they sent to the Blubaughs in March. Brian is an Alaska Native.

"I'm so thoroughly discouraged. Betty and I don't plan on going back to court," Forest Blubaugh said Friday. "This was a horrible crime committed, and they are doing everything they can to protect these juveniles from society. Brian was left to die, no one came back to check on him, and they couldn't care less. I've given up on the judicial system."

Brian Blubaugh's lungs and ears are still hurting, his father said. "No one cares because he's a Native who still lives at home with his parents, a down-and-outer prone to alcohol. If this were a white boy beaten by four native people, that would be a lot different," he said.

Troopers completed a lengthy investigation of the assault in February and forwarded charges to the Palmer District Attorney's office. That office forwarded the matter to the Division of Juvenile Justice. It was determined that the teens' charges qualified to be handled in juvenile court, rather than waiving them into adult court.