Anchorage, Alaska-U.S. Attorney Karen Loeffler announced today that an indictment had been returned charging two men with burglarizing the post office in Sand Point, Alaska.
Sheldon Wilson Shuravloff, 21, and Keith Lee Wilson Jr., 18, both of Sand Point Alaska are named in both counts of the two-count indictment. The first count charges the men with conspiring to burglarize the post office in late December 2014. The second count charges both with forcibly breaking into the post office with the intent to commit a larceny or other crime once inside. The indictment stems from a break in that occurred at the post office on or about December 28 of last year. The burglary resulted in damage to the post office itself and to some postal equipment kept inside. It also forced the post office to close for a week, thereby preventing Sand Point residents from receiving their mail.
Assistant United States Attorney Stephanie Courter, who presented the case to the grand jury, indicated both Shuravloff and Wilson face up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 on each of the two charges. The law also allows a court, upon a conviction, to order the men to pay restitution in the amount of the damage done to the post office as a result of their actions. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed will be based upon the seriousness of the offense and the prior criminal history of the defendant.
The men will be arraigned in federal court in the coming days. The United States Postal Inspection Service, the Sand Point Police Department, and the Alaska State Troopers conducted the investigation leading to the indictment in this case.
An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
