The Juneau man arrested for attempted burglary at Western Auto & Marine on Jan. 25, and who also faced other criminal charges, pleaded guilty in front of Juneau Superior Court Judge Patricia Collins on Thursday as part of a plea deal between his public defender Kevin Higgins and the state’s attorney Angie Kemp.
“We are going to resolve all his pending cases today,” Higgins said.
Derik Wythe, 27, pleaded guilty to two counts of burglary in the second — Class C felonies that carry a maximum of up to five years in jail and a $50,000 fine. Wythe has no prior felonies so he will likely serve up to two years in jail.
Attempted theft and criminal mischief charges were dismissed as part of the plea bargain.
The guilty pleas are subject to open sentencing. Wythe could be ordered to pay damages in these two guilty pleas, as well as the cases dismissed and in three uncharged cases.
Wythe admitted to entering and remaining unlawfully at GCI on Dec. 24 with the intent to commit theft.
Employees of GCI reported to work to find several items in disarray. Upon investigation, a safe was found missing. A manager confirmed that cash, checks and other items were missing.
A store video showed Wythe in a spider-themed sweatshirt with the hood up pilfering the store.
Later, Juneau police officers responded to a local hotel where a clerk noted suspicious activity involving the transfer of goods from a vehicle to a room. Officers responded to the room where Wythe gave a different name. Receipts were found consistent with the burglary and a search warrant was executed. The warrant turned up several items consistent with the burglary including the spider-themed sweatshirt and tennis shoes with World printed on the bottom that were consistent with footprints left outside GCI.
Wythe also admitted to breaking into Western Auto & Marine on Jan. 25 and attempting to steal multiple items. Police responded to an alarm and found Wythe trying to avoid detection by lying on a shelf.
Police found firearms and knives from a store display rack in his possession.
The Juneau Special Weapons and Tactics, or SWAT, unit, a local dog and handler from Southeast Alaska Chiefs Against Drugs (SEACAD), and more than 11 patrol vehicles and the Juneau Police Department mobile command station responded to the scene. Officers remained on scene for multiple hours to make sure no accomplices were in the building.
A pre-sentencing report was scheduled for June 1 in Collins’ courtroom.
• Contact reporter Klas Stolpe at 523-2263 or at klas.stolpe@juneauempire.com.
Comments (26)
Add commentHa Ha
Lock him up for a long time.
Our courts need to STOP PLEA
Our courts need to STOP PLEA BARGAINING with criminals!!!!
do what others have
Why not send him to treatment down south and let him run away and hide and be gone from Alaska for good. That way we don't foot the bill for him for 3 hots and a cot for the next x amount of years. I do believe they have done it with others?
bad crook
There is a lot of humor to this guy's story. Robbing a store on Christmas Eve and leaving footprints in the snow. Before he goes to court for that, he robs a store with a silent alarm a stone's throw from the police station. The man is brilliant!
idiot on the loose
I agree with all.. stop the plea bargining and lock thier arses up to do thier FULL sentence.. these idiots get out early and start the crime sprees all over again.. stop the grey bar hotel treatment too.. treat them like the prison in AZ.. pink suits and bologna sammies for 3 meals.. they learn fast and the jails will save BOOOKOO cash every year that can be put to better use then feeding criminals seafood meals and steak.. hell I cant even afford that and I WORK
Wow
"Shoulda shot him"???? Really? C'mon, that's a little harsh. I am glad he pled guilty. He will get time and hopefully some help for his addiction. He has no prior felonies. He's getting a lot more time than Gino......
I dont think we need to pay
I dont think we need to pay for him to eat like a king, get his college degree and have counseling sessions to help with his feelings. If they are breaking and entering, shoot them as soon as they cross the treshold. If you have to jail them, make it unconfortable and no fun. Nothing they ever want to do again.
Hmmmm.....
Wondering two things: First, why aren't damages/reparations automatic? People should have to pay back what they have cost others when they commit a crime. Second, and related; what happens to the PFD of criminals while they are in jail? Personally, I think PFD's should be garnished while a person is in jail for reparations, and after they get out until the debt is paid.
Shipped in
But Alaska Teacher bologna would have to be shipped in why not feed them Pinks or chums Alaska has lots!
swimmer
I agree - I don't think Derik should get off scot-free. (I just think shooting him is a little harsh) I don't believe they can collect a PFD while incarcerated and I agree future PFD's should be garnished for reparations. I am just wondering about our "justice" system: Gino walked, the guy that shot a someone in the FACE - TWICE, walked... I'm not saying Derik should have walked, but these various sentences don't make sense. Gino should have been in prison a lot longer and the shooter - he should STILL be in prison.
PFD
criminals in jail arent allowed to claim a pfd or vote.. its in the regs.. thats a good benefit. Making them pay for damages and police time and effort for the stand-off should be manditory as well. The gas station and mocha stand, plumbing store and liquior store lost business cause of this asshat.. I think he should be liable for that as well. make his life miserable and do hard time and work for paying all parties back
Wow
Shoot him for breaking an entering? Are you a psychopath? And they get served steak and seafood in prison? I think not. I assume none of you have been to prison, because it's not actually a luxury hotel; it's an environment where you have very little freedom and everyone essentially views you as less than human. It is INCREDIBLY degrading, and only those in extremely desperate situations would WANT to be put away.
And advocating for really, really, really harsh prisons. That's just a peachy idea. Throw out the ENTIRE idea of rehabilitation and ensure that it's such a horrible place they'll kill in order not to return there again, also ensuring more crimes will turn into murders.
Bravo, Mr./Ms. Alaskan Teacher--I know the saying, "those who can't do, teach," and I sincerely hope you are teaching your kids how to think.
Ummmm, Yeah. If someone
Ummmm, Yeah. If someone breaks into my house, they are getting shot. I dont recommend it. And yes, they do eat incredibly well. I have seen it many times where an illegal load of fish is seized and donated to the prison. Why not to the public schools or the Pioneer home? Nope, it goes to the prison. Guys that I have talked to who were incarcerated said it wasn't so bad. Watch TV eat good work out and take classes. Maybe it was just here, no doubt there are some pretty scary prisons.
Please. Fish every now and
Please. Fish every now and then is not eating like a king or anything near it. Watching TV occasionally and working out sounds like a wonderful life, though. And classes! We shouldn't be teaching convicts things that might make them less likely to re-offend once released, should we? That's just stupid policy. After all, isn't the point of the prison system to have a group of people we can collectively spit on?
That said, it is your right to shoot a burglar provided you feel your life is threatened. Obviously it's hard to prove you DIDN'T feel this way in court, but it takes a pretty poor excuse of a human being to shoot someone when they don't feel threatened, so hopefully it doesn't happen often.
Hasnt yet. So you seem to
Hasnt yet. So you seem to think that they are all just victims being mistreated and we should happily shell out our hard earned dollars so they can be all better? Why not help them get a law degree so they can become a defense attorney? I guess I'm old fashioned and would like to be able to keep my money and use it to pay for MY kids education and to make sure they don't end up in jail.
Do realize how much taxpayer
Do realize how much taxpayer money is spent on nicotine cessation, or for tatoo removal for prison populace? Dont get me wrong, we waste plenty of money in other areas that should be targetted first, but still...And the studies have shown that new tats spring up where the old ones were, and they start smoking again almost immediately. Money well spent
Well
You live in a society and reap all kinds of benefits from it. You get to pay your dues to ensure it continues to provide those benefits, and that includes helping those who didn't have the leg-up in life you and your kids do. If you don't want to pay society's dues, you can move away from it. End story. Ego need not be involved.
I do find it odd that you'd rather criminals just re-offend and re-offend after being released than rehabilitating them, though. If you don't like crime, it would seem you WOULD like a solution that prevents it... Unless you're for life sentences or execution all around, in which case, again, most criminals will kill to keep from being arrested.
Also, I can't imagine much money (out of the whole budget) is spent on tattoo removal or nicotine addiction treatment, but I do agree that those do sound like superfluous programs (but then again, they may have a purpose--nicotine treatments may reduce prison violence, and maybe tattoo removal reduces gang membership?).
how much?
I don't know how much $ is spent on those things. How much is it? Or are you just making empty implications based on what you saw on the tv?
kevin
FYI.. if you check out the menu at the grey bar hotel, there is top of the line food served and seafoods. The inmates demanded it stating cultural bias long ago, and now are served better foods then joe public. NONE of my students, nor children have been to jail or broken any laws, and thier pants are pulled up and no butt cracks or boxers hanging out trying to be a wannabee..tyvm!!!!! I have been teaching for over 20 yrs now and enjoy every minute of it. it kills me the judges are slapping all these criminals on thier wrists and reducing time for "time served"..
Is this a joke? You take
Is this a joke? You take issue with reduced sentencing for TIME ALREADY SERVED? You understand that time already served is time they spent in jail, correct?
dinks
no where did I say to reduce thier sentences.. stop sniffing the super glue.. I said.. it kills us/public when the judges reduce sentences by months or even years for some.. take the Sears criminal idiots.. he reduced hers by 5 months slapped her hands and now she skipped town and went poof... now Rena and Lenny Simms are stuck with paying the corp offices back the monies they stole on the gift cards. lock em up and find the key when the full time is served.. no good behavior.. they did the crime, now do the time
Alaskan Teacher
You said; "it kills me the judges are slapping all these criminals on thier wrists and reducing time for "time served"..
Kevin said; "You take issue with reduced sentencing for TIME ALREADY SERVED?"
Then you said; "no where did I say to reduce thier sentences.. stop sniffing the super glue.. "
You're not an English teacher, are you? In fact, I'm not convinced you're a teacher at all........ You didn't capitalize the first word of most of your sentences. It's "their" not "thier". And it's "nowhere" not "no where"..... maybe you are the problem with our educational system.....
Wow
Yea, good idea people, stop plea bargaining... spend $1000's of dollars to take some stupid burglary charge to trial, then lock him up and throw away the key... while us taxpayers spend $140 a day to keep him there. No thanks. Have any of you been to Lemon Creek? you don't eat like a king or get your college degree as one person suggested. Although a college degree program would be the best thing they could implement. What do you expect them to do when they get out after wasting years doing absolutely nothing! without any job skills or education... no one will hire these people. Of course they go on to commit more crimes. get real. and you are ignorant Alaskan Teacher if you think that none of your students, your children or yourself have never broken a law. haha. wow.
From experience
I've spent time in LCCC. There is no menu, there is no seafood, there are no steaks. There are powdered eggs every morning. There is crap that looks like alpo dog food on top of rice. There is goulash (spelling?). There wasn't even jelly. It was not eating like a king. I'm not complaining, I screwed up, I was incarcerated for it. The halfway house, now there's a place people eat like kings.