Thief gets nearly two years; awaits federal case

PALMER — Two years after he was charged with numerous theft counts, a Wasilla man received a sentence of 27 months in prison Monday.

Joshua Cowley, 31, was charged initially with 24 counts including burglary and theft. Once the Grand Jury got done, though, the indictment handed down was for more than a dozen counts of theft by receiving.

“Frankly, those are just easier to prove,” Assistant District Attorney Richard Allen said when asked what happened to the burglary counts.

Late last month Cowley plead to one of those theft by receiving counts.

He was implicated in a string of burglaries along with Justin Anderson, 29, and Brian Bosch, 25, who were both also charged in Superior Court in Palmer. All three also face federal charges of being felons in possession of firearms.

As far as the state court cases go, the three men were accused of breaking into homes then pawning what they stole. Signatures from Anderson and Cowley were found on more than a dozen pawn slips linked to stolen items.

When asked to explain the deal to serve 23 months Allen reached with Cowley, the prosecutor said Cowley had cooperated with prosecutors which is reason enough to justify moving the sentence below the three- to five-year range he was liable for as a two-time felon.

“We’re still willing to honor the deal we mad with Mr. Cowley,” Allen said. “It is a bit on the lenient side but, as I said, he’s going to have some issues he’ll be dealing with with the feds.”

When his time came to speak, Cowley said he had been trying, since the charges were filed in 2007, to put the case behind him.

“When this started out I got involved with the wrong people, accepted some stuff from the wrong people,” Cowley said. “I was out, doing good, working and then they came and got me.”

Cowley had been released pending trial but picked back up when the federal charges were filed in November.

He said the federal charges had come as a surprise since he believed his lawyer had told him he wouldn’t be seeing federal charges.

“I’m trying to get a lawyer right now and fix everything federal-wise,” Cowley said.

His state attorney, Lyle Stohler, echoed a lot of what Allen had said about the assistance Cowley gave to prosecutors.

“I think it’s important to note that the cooperation in this case didn’t quite reach the level the federal officials would have liked but it did help get guns off the street,” Stohler said.

He said the decision on whether Cowley’s federal sentence is stacked on top of his state sentence is up to the federal judge.

Superior Court Judge Vanessa White, in handing down her sentence, said she had some reservations but that the sentence seemed appropriate. She said it’s good for judges to try and encourage cooperation with prosecutors.

“That certainly does promote the overall administration of justice,” White said.

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