Alcova Lake Burglar Gets Prison Sentence With Boot Camp, Prison Terms; Judge Gives Hard Advice

A burglar of nearly two dozen cabins at Alcova Lake in November received the opportunity to reduce his four- to eight-year prison term by participating in the corrections system's boot camp program during a sentencing hearing Thursday.

Natrona County District Court Judge Catherine Wilking then gave some hard advice to Christopher Wallace.

"Please take that program seriously," Wilking said.

"Don't try to challenge them," she said. "Please don't waste that."

Assistant District Attorney Mike Schafer said the burglaries caused a lot of damage. About five victims submitted damage estimates to his office totaling more than $6,500, and Wallace must pay restitution for those in addition to the incarceration.

But Wallace cooperated with law enforcement and gave information about co-defendant Adrian "Joseph" Sixfeathers, Schafer said. Sixfeathers has yet to be apprehended, he added.

Wallace, his public defender Rob Oldham said, was a juvenile when arrested and now has 22 felonies on his record. "He was a young man who made a stupid mistake."

Boot camp will give him self-esteem to help him in life, Oldham added.

When Wilking asked Wallace if he had anything to say to the court, he shook his head and said, "no."

In June, Wallace pleaded guilty to 22 counts of burglary, and that resulted in the recommendation of 22 four- to eight-year sentences to be served concurrently with the boot camp recommendation, Schafer said then.

If Wallace, who was 19 at the time, successfully completes boot camp, he could return to the court and ask the judge for a sentence modification, Schafer said Thursday. However, if the boot camp dismisses him, he goes directly to the Wyoming State Penitentiary.

If the case had gone to trial and Wallace was convicted on all counts, he could have faced up to 220 years of imprisonment.

The case began in mid-November when the Natrona County Sheriff's Office received reports of a series of alleged burglaries, property damage and criminal entries.

Court documents said the incidents shared a pattern of the suspects forcing entry into buildings by using blunt force or throwing something through a window.

Coincidentally, the owner of one burglarized cabin had set up a trail camera on his property just prior to the burglaries. He gave the camera's memory card to deputies.
Photos from the card showed two male suspects breaking through the cabin door, and Natrona County School District and law enforcement officials identified Wallace as one of the suspects.

Wallace was a runaway at the time, but officers found him and interviewed him. He  admitted to breaking into the cabins and stealing property.