Voorhis gets 45-year prison term

PALMER - A three-day standoff with troopers, including gunfire, has landed a Talkeetna man in prison for 45 years.

Donald Voorhis withstood tear gas, pepper bombs, a water cannon barrage, but finally threw in the towel when Alaska State Troopers used a small bulldozer to rip a wall off his trailer in a remote area off Talkeetna Spur Road.

Superior Court Judge Eric Smith sentenced Voorhis, who fired at, but missed, a trooper to 52 years, but suspended seven of those years.

If he behaves, the 51-year-old convict, can be paroled after serving two-thirds of his sentence. But he was in court this morning with a black eye that Palmer District Attorney Roman Kalytiak said was the result of a scuffle with another prisoner.