Thieves go to prison for beating, robbing woman

PALMER — Two men convicted of robbing an elderly Talkeetna woman of her marijuana in late 2007 received 7- and 4-year prison terms Friday.

Tanner Comoza, 21, and Travis Duley Wharton, 20, had previously pleaded to robbery and burglary in the case. Troopers say they broke into Shirley Lungaro’s home on early the morning of New Year’s Eve, tied the elderly woman with a telephone cord, beat her unconscious, then cut down her marijuana plants, grabbed other valuables and left.

At Friday’s hearings, Comoza went first.

Assistant District Attorney Alison Collins said that while most of the evidence seemed to indicate Comoza did not participate in the beating, he was certainly an integral part of the plan.

“As she was beaten, he helped gather items from her home,” Collins said. “Everything they did here they did together.”

And, she said, Lungaro was left tied up in her home in a relatively isolated stretch of the Valley, a very precarious situation for her.

Collins pointed out that Comoza was the one who first told police of his and Wharton’s deeds and said he has since cooperated fully with law enforcement. Which is why, she said, she was only asking for a six year-term rather than the maximum of seven she’d agreed to with Comoza’s attorney.

Four of Comoza’s brothers came to speak on his behalf.

“He’s never done anything like this before,” said one of the brothers, Cody Williams. “He feels tore up about the whole thing.”

For his part, Comoza apologized to the court for taking up so much of its time and resources and said, “I’m extremely remorseful for what happened. I would never want for anything like this to happen to anybody.”

Lungaro testified that since the robbery, “I’ve been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and permanent depression.”

She asked for the maximum sentence and to be paid back for her medical bills.

Superior Court Judge Eric Smith eventually decided on a sentence of four years, which, he said, “is the bottom of the range that was agreed to.” He left the issue of how much Comoza would pay Lungaro open for the attorneys to sort out.

Next it was Wharton’s turn.

“Significantly, here, it was Mr. Wharton’s idea to go to this place,” Collins said. Also significant, she said, was Wharton’s violence in the incident and Comoza’s apparent surprise at the turn it took.

“The victim heard (Comoza) yelling several times, ‘Travis!’ ‘Travis!’ as he beat her.”

She pointed to a previous robbery on Wharton’s record from when he was still a juvenile. His sister had held a knife to the throat of a cab driver and then Wharton had tried afterward to slash the cab’s tires.

She also said a lot of the items stolen, in addition to the marijuana, were Lungaro’s family heirlooms. Wharton has not said where they are.

“The victim in this case would like them back more than she would like their monetary value,” Collins said.

On Wharton’s side, his attorney Nathaniel Peters said he wasn’t so sure Smith should take Comoza’s claims at face value.

“He got to the cops first. He basically threw Travis under the bus,” Peters said.

Collins had a response to that: “What Mr. Comoza reported did mirror very closely what the victim reported,” she said.

Wharton’s brother and best friend offered testimony as to the defendant’s character, saying he wasn’t generally the type to do this sort of thing and that he had good job prospects and a support network when he’s released.

Peters said his client isn’t the type to express his feelings openly.

“He hasn’t expressed remorse to the court, and I don’t know if he will today, but he has to me,” Peters said. Wharton did take his opportunity to speak, choking up toward the end.

“I just want to say sorry Mrs. Lungaro. I didn’t think this was going to go this far. I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life. This is a big one. I’m sorry.”

Smith eventually settled on a 7-year term.

“I know this is a pretty serious sentence for someone who’s only 20 years old but the crime is very serious,” he said.