Fifth person sentenced in Fairbanks mail theft ring
Published Thursday, October 22, 2009
Digg
delicious
Facebook
Mixx
Reddit
Stumble It!FAIRBANKS — A fifth person was sentenced Wednesday for his role in a mail theft ring that targeted the outlying areas of Fairbanks.
Jeramy Freriks, 33, pleaded guilty earlier this year to felony counts of theft and fraudulent use of an access device. In exchange, prosecutors dropped more than a dozen other felony theft and forgery charges against him.
He received a sentence Wednesday of five years in jail with 18 months suspended. Superior Court Judge Michael MacDonald also revoked 10 months of suspended time for a 2006 case, which involved mail theft motivated by drugs.
“As long as Mr. Freriks has a drug problem, no amount of time will deter him,” MacDonald said.
Freriks did not speak at the brief hearing, though his attorney, Lori Bodwell, said he has received his high school equivalency diploma since being incarcerated earlier this year and he is seeking drug treatment.
The four other members of the ring who have entered into plea agreements with prosecutors have received sentences ranging from 1-5 years to serve, plus suspended time and probation.
Three other people indicted in connection with the group are awaiting trial.
Local law enforcement agencies received more than 700 reports of mail theft or tampering between September and December of 2008.
Cases ranged in severity from displaced mail being found at the side of the road to stolen checks and credit cards being used to purchase thousands of dollars worth of items from local businesses. Authorities estimated losses in the range of tens of thousands of dollars. Drugs, specifically methamphetamine, were the main motive for the thefts, they said.
Freriks was convicted in 2006 of being a part of a group of 10 loosely organized mail thieves who traded tips about how to steal mail and pass checks. That group, which targeted the Goldstream Valley, North Pole and Chena Hot Springs Road areas beginning the summer of 2005, went on shopping sprees throughout the state, racking up as much as half a million dollars in purchases using stolen cash and forged checks.
Community Discussion
Newsminer.com doesn't necessarily condone the comments here, nor does it review every post. Read our full user's agreement.
How do you just drop more than a dozen felonies on a repeat offender? Something smells like fishcamp around here.
with light sentences like these, its no wonder that our crime rates are always increasing.
“As long as Mr. Freriks has a drug problem, no amount of time will deter him,” MacDonald said.
Would His Honor also make the same claim for other criminal behavior? Such as; "As long as Mr. Bundy has a penchant for murdering young females, no amount of time will deter him."
Rehabilitation is a must, but this isn't a simple drug bust. Nor is this a simple case of chain mail harassement. Multiple crimes have been committed against many people statewide. This is a classic case of Throw the Book at the previously convicted felon and let the law be a deterrent to others.
Then again I'm sure he testfied against the others, thus the leniency and the last to be tried.
Trouble is, how many of those 12 felony counts did the DA have really solid evidence to support?
My *guess* is, based on the DA's willingness to let Frerik [and the others] plead to just one count, the evidence/case was not that well built/supported, or the LEOs involved cut too many of the wrong corners. This *might* also explain why there are no Fed charges on any of these people for tampering with the US mails??
The motivation for all these people was money to support drug addictions. Freriks has been caught doing it before, for the same reasons. The odds are excellent that he'll get out, and go right back to doing it, with a little more experience and expertise.
The only *realistic* expectation of stopping this continual cycle is to have Freriks' chosen form of self-abuse available at a reasonable price, from a controlled source.
This would serve the double purpose of also cutting the financial profit motive out from under Freriks' previous suppliers - who after all, were the sole beneficiaries of all Freriks criminal activities, past and present, BUT will not be receiving any punishment at all.
Post a comment
Commenting requires registration.