Time to revisit my all-time most popular post.
The Glens Falls Post-Star is reporting that Alan G. Como has plead guilty to felony criminal mischief.
The charge had nothing to do with the litany of home break-ins police believe Alan G. Como committed in the Brant Lake/Beaver Pond area in 2005 and 2006, however.
Instead, the only felony charge prosecutors could pin on him was a felony criminal mischief count that was brought for his cutting down trees on private property to make a hut…
Even though the guy was surrounded by stolen property, and even wearing a pair of pants with the name of one of the burglary victims, local DA Kate Hogan and her office “concluded the criminal mischief count was the only felony that could be successfully prosecuted.” Remember, this guy was caught by sheer luck.
According to Sheriff Larry Cleveland,
“We know he did them but we didn’t have enough evidence to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt,”
“He didn’t leave any evidence behind (at the homes he burglarized). He was very good at it.”
Look, I don’t support what this guy has done, but this story is sounding more like First Blood than a case-study in law-enforcement and prosecution. They are hitting him with a felony count based on the estimated value of a tree. Judge John Hall notes:
“One large tree is worth more than $250,”
Como has disputed the value of the trees and the damage he has caused.
“Ninety percent of the trees I cut down were dead wood,”
When he is sentenced June 13th, he faces up to 4 years in state prison.
