Robbery suspect plans to admit guilt
Hagadone News Network | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 10 years, 3 months AGO
PONDERAY- An Alaska man indicted for the strong-arm robbery of a Ponderay credit union intends to plead guilty, according to U.S. District Court records.
Federal public defender Amy Rubin filed notice of Karl Erik Erickson's intentions on Monday, according to court records.
A grand jury indicted Erickson on one count of bank robbery in connection with the July 7 heist at the Horizon Credit Union on Bonner Mall Way.
Erickson informed a teller that robbery was occurring and demanded $5,000, court documents allege. He made off with $3,410 in the robbery.
Erickson, 32, managed to elude capture until July 10, when he was arrested without incident during a traffic stop in Kootenai County.
He was initially charged in Idaho's 1st District Court, but the matter was dismissed in favor of federal prosecution.
Erickson was scheduled to be tried in federal court on Sept. 15.
He remains held at the Bonner County Jail because federal prosecutors successfully argued that Erickson was a flight risk due to the seriousness of the offense and the weight of the evidence against him, court records indicate.
Erickson faces up to 10 years in prison when he is sentenced.
Further proceedings in the case are pending.
Erickson is linked to addresses in Palmer and Wasilla, Alaska. Erickson, according to that state's online courts database, has an extensive criminal record consisting mostly of misdemeanors.
However, he also has felony drug and theft arrests, in addition to a conviction for forcible robbery in 2004.
ARTICLES BY HAGADONE NEWS NETWORK
Grocers hit by leak
Area customers, stores victimized by massive electronic security breach
At the onset of one of the busiest shopping weeks of the year, customers at multiple grocery stores in the region are being asked to use cash and checks to make purchases while investigators work to fix a payment processing system compromised by a criminal cyber attack.
Montana FWP sets deer hunting limits
It’s settled: Whitetail deer hunting will be limited to bucks only in northwestern Montana for the next two years.
Man pleads guilty to 2008 wolf killing
A Kalispell man will be sentenced in May after pleading guilty to killing a wolf in 2008 in the McGinnis Meadows-Fisher River area.