Sentencing for Papa Pilgrim delayed
GLENNALLEN - A judge granted a delay in the sentencing of the man known as Papa Pilgrim, who faces a 14-year sentence after pleading no contest to charges of rape, kidnapping and incest.
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Robert Hale had been scheduled to be sentenced Monday. Now, his sentencing is set for Nov. 5. A new defense lawyer with the state Office of Public Advocacy requested the delay Thursday so he would have time to prepare for the sentencing.
The large Hale family had lived in the remote reaches of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, where they had engaged in a high-profile battle with the National Park Service over access and other issues.
On the eve of his trial, in December 2006, Hale pleaded no contest to charges of rape, kidnapping and incest involving one of his daughters. But he later tried to withdraw the plea. He said he had made a mistake because he'd been sick in jail, on medications and was not well-represented by his public defender.
Last month, in a hearing to decide on his change of plea, Hale changed his mind again and returned to a no contest plea.
The public defender's office had bowed out of the case by then, citing a conflict. The Office of Public Advocacy attorney who represented Hale at his September plea hearing quit, and Hale's new lawyer, Paul Maslakowski, said he'd had no time to prepare.
Four years ago, Hale moved his family of 17 to a homestead near McCarthy, saying he wanted to raise his children in a Bible-centered world away from civilization. It was there that he got into a standoff with rangers in the national park over an access road he bulldozed to his property.
Hale, 66, was arrested in October 2005 after family members went to state troopers.
Hale was indicted on 30 counts of rape, incest, coercion, kidnapping and assault for crimes against one of his daughters, committed between 1998 and 2005.
He ran from law enforcement for two weeks before he was taken into custody.