Three months for man who shot at house

PALMER — A Big Lake man who fired rounds from a firearm at his former roommate’s house in March was sentenced to three months in prison Tuesday.

Given that a prisoner is entitled to a one-third reduction in his sentence for good behavior while in custody, Paul J. Meixner is probably getting pretty close to having served his whole sentence. He was arrested March 15 following the shooting on Moonrise Drive in Houston.

“Mr. Meixner went over to the victim’s house and shot off a firearm,” is how Assistant District Attorney Kerry Corliss described the crime.

According to court documents filed at the time, prior to shooting at the house Meixner drove by the house in his Ford Bronco. He’d lived there for four months and did not part on good terms with his erstwhile roommate.

That roommate recognized the Bronco as Meixner’s and told troopers where to find him. He was arrested that night.

Oddly enough, the cabin burned down two days later. Alaska State Troopers said at the time that there was no reason to believe the fire was suspicious or that it was related to the shooting.

Corliss said that the state’s goal in the sentencing was to deter Meixner from acting this way in the future, expressing the community’s condemnation for his acts, and rehabilitating him.

The sentence was, therefore, crafted toward supervision, keeping someone watching over Meixner as long as possible. After he’s released, Meixner will have to check in with a parole officer for three years. If he re-offends he could go back to prison for as much as 21 months.

“I apologize for this very unfortunate thing that happened,” Meixner told Superior Court Judge Eric Smith.

For his part, as he imposed the sentence, Smith said he wished Meixner luck.

“It looks like alcohol played a role in this and hopefully the treatment that you’re going to need to put this behind you works,” he said.

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

frontiersman.com.