Man agrees to plead guilty in string of vehicle break-ins
A man accused of taking thousands of dollars of property from parked vehicles could spend at least three years in prison.
Sheridan Scott Stringer, 34, also will have to pay restitution and write letters of apology to more than a dozen victims, according to a plea agreement entered Monday with Juneau Superior Court Judge Patricia Collins.
Stringer agreed to plead guilty in three cases relating to vehicle break-ins dating back to last fall. The agreement calls for a sentence of three to 612 years.
Stringer could get five years in prison with two years suspended for each of the two felony second-degree theft charges, 90 days for a misdemeanor second-degree criminal trespass charge and 180 days with 90 suspended for a misdemeanor third-degree theft charge. In addition, he could be placed on probation for five years.
Collins scheduled sentencing for Jan. 7.
The agreement left it to the judge to decide whether the terms would be served at the same time or consecutively.
Defense attorney Robert Meachum said he will argue the sentences should be served at the same time.
Assistant District Attorney Doug Gardner told Collins it could take six to eight weeks to calculate how much restitution Stringer will be required to pay. In the meantime, his office now will be able to release stolen property that has been held in evidence, he added.
"There are many, many victims that have been referenced," Collins told Stringer after reading the files.
In reading the charges, Collins named 13 victims. While explaining the factual basis for the charges, Gardner named a person Collins didn't mention.
Police arrested Stringer in March. He initially was accused of stealing a purse from a vehicle parked near the Brotherhood Bridge trailhead. He was charged with stealing items from vehicles near trailheads in the Mendenhall Valley area and at the Merchants Wharf parking lot downtown. The thefts date back to October 2002.
Steve Handy, a core member of the Juneau Mountain Rescue Group, was the only victim in court for Monday's hearing. In March, he identified some of his rescue equipment recovered in the investigation.
Handy said he will be pick up his property today and then will determine what is missing and how much restitution he is owed.
He said he doesn't expect to get his entire share of the restitution in January. But he doesn't harbor any bad feelings toward Stringer, who will pay for his crimes. "We've got to let things go," he said.
• Tony Carroll can be reached at tony.carroll@juneauempire.com.