SJ man sentenced for weapons theft
A San Juan Island man who admitted to breaking into a home, theft of a loaded handgun and stashing it in a milk crate in the living room of the Friday Harbor apartment that he shares with his wife and young children was ordered to serve two years and four months in prison.
On Aug. 20, Brian Michael Flierl, 35, pleaded guilty in San Juan County Superior Court to one count of theft of a firearm, a Class B felony, and to one count of unlawful possession of a firearm, a Class C felony. He was sentenced Aug. 25 to a total of 28 months in confinement by Superior Court Judge pro-tem Glenna Hall, and was ordered to pay $400 in fines and fees.
Prosecutors, in calling for a prison term at the upper end of the state-standard range of sentencing, note the theft of a firearm and its concealment where it might have been discovered by children demonstrate a disregard for the safety of others. The loaded revolver and its holster reportedly were visible through the milk crate in spite of a flower pot placed on top of it.
Work crew violation
An Orcas man who checked out early and without permission from a shift on the Sheriff’s Department work crew was sentenced to a 17-month prison term for felony escape.
On Sept. 5, Robert Thomas Speers, 22, pleaded guilty in San Juan County Superior Court to one count of second-degree escape, a Class C felony. He was sentenced to 17 months in prison by Judge pro-tem Hall, and ordered to pay $600 in fines and fees.
According to court documents, Speers was assigned to work crew as part of a sentence handed down for violating court orders on back-to-back convictions in 2011 for bail jumping and for escape from community custody. Those violations followed a conviction and sentence two years earlier for possession of a controlled substance.
On Aug. 12, Speers, while assigned to a work crew shift at the Friday Harbor fairgrounds, left without permission at about 2 p.m. and boarded a ferry bound for Orcas. Speers was taken into custody about two hours later at an apartment in Eastsound, which reportedly belongs to his mother.
