If Joseph R. Lofstrom wants to grab a cup of coffee after he’s done serving eight years in prison for theft and robbery, he’ll have to go somewhere other than Juneau’s Heritage Coffee shops — that’s part of his plea deal.
Lofstrom, 33, robbed a Heritage Coffee drive-thru stand in the Lemon Creek area in 2014. One year later, he confessed to the robbery, and on Thursday, Juneau Superior Court Philip Pallenberg sentenced him to 15 years in prison, with seven of those years suspended.
“I went into the building and took her sense of security from her,” Lofstrom said during his sentencing, referring to then-21-year-old barista he ordered to give him cash on Aug. 27, 2014. “I’m sorry for what I did.”
Lofstrom continued to deny in court that he used any weapon during the robbery, but Assistant District Attorney Angie Kemp told Judge Pallenberg that the witness in the robbery has not once changed her statement about seeing some sort of weapon used by Lofstrom when he robbed her.
In a previous interview with the Empire, the barista described the weapon Lofstrom used as a “shank-y sort of tool, like, sharp kind of tool, pointed to my face.”
Thursday’s eight-year sentence was also for a July 9, 2014 felony weapons theft that Lofstrom admitted to committing with his then-girlfriend Tania Polk, whom he shares a son with. Lofstrom went on to sell that stolen weapon to the Checkmate Pawn Shop, Kemp told the Empire in a phone call after the hearing.
According to prosecutors, Lofstrom told a Juneau Police Department detective that he robbed the coffee stand to feed his family and pay rent.
As part of Lofstrom’s deal, he’ll have to pay the shop’s owner $275 in restitution since police have since seized the gun for evidence. He’ll also have to send $641 to Heritage Coffee shop.
In court, Lofstrom also issued an apology to the woman whose house he robbed to get the stolen weapon.
“I took things and took that sense of security that her stuff was safe and I’m surely sorry for that,” Lofstrom said.
ADA Kemp, meanwhile, told Judge Pallenberg that Lofstrom’s inability to stay away from crime while on probation in the past is evidence enough that he is not quick to learn his lessons. She said rehabilitation should be the court’s lowest priority with this case and keeping Lofstrom isolated is what’s important now.
Pallenberg said he was in agreement with the plea deal for eight years, but he seemed hopeful that Lofstrom could gain the necessary tools while in prison to turn his life around.
“I know that a person is not defined by a list of prior offenses on a piece of paper. … If we don’t believe in the possibility of change, then I guess we lock everyone up for a life,” Pallenberg said. “I have to believe in the possibly for change.”
• Contact reporter Paula Ann Solis at 523-2272 or paula.solis@juneauempire.com.
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