Press Release

Two Kodiak Men Sentenced for 2015 Burglary Spree

January 17, 2017

(Kodiak, AK) – On Thursday January 17, 2017 Kodiak Superior Court Judge Steve Cole sentenced 21 year old Shay Monkiewicz and 19 year old Justin Isadore to 18 months in jail and 5 years of probation following their convictions for burglarizing at least 10 residences in Kodiak between August and December, 2015.

The convictions stem from a months long State Trooper investigation into multiple residential burglaries that began in August, 2015. The defendants were indicted by a Kodiak grand jury in January, 2016. At the sentencing hearing Trooper Mike Munson testified providing the court with evidence uncovered during the investigation that involved almost all the troopers in the Kodiak post. Of 27 guns stolen only 9 were recovered. Monkiewicz told troopers that he threw the balance of the weapons in the ocean in January, 2016 to get rid of them. Isadore told troopers in June, 2016 that he believed Monkiewicz still had the guns. Troopers were unable to locate the weapons and could not conclusively establish that the weapons were or were not thrown into the ocean. The State introduced photographs of the extensive damage done to the individual residences which included discharging fire extinguishers in homes and leaving axes buried in walls of three others. Trooper Munson’s testimony established that in addition to taking property all the residences had the contents of drawers emptied and property knocked over or broken. During interviews the defendants each told Trooper Munson that the other was principally responsible for choosing the residences and planning the break-ins.

At sentencing, victims addressed the court describing the impact upon themselves and their families dealing with the aftermath of the burglaries. They expressed concern about the missing guns and ammunition. Speaking to the defendants during sentencing Judge Cole said, based upon the record, he believes they both had lied to the troopers and know where the property is. Judge Cole expressed shock at the level of damage calling it gratuitous as evidenced in the photos introduced by Trooper Munson. He observed that the case was the worst case of burglary he had seen in his 40 years in Kodiak. Judge Cole said that finding the case to be “most serious” for purposes of a statutory aggravating factor was a “no brainer”.

The defendants appeared in custody at the sentencing having remanded to jail a the time of their change of plea in September, 2016. They each were granted credit for months of pre-incarceration bail release on house arrest with ankle bracelet electronic monitoring. A restitution hearing has been set before Judge Cole on May 11, 2017.

CONTACT: Stephen Wallace at (907) 486-5744 or Stephen.Wallace@alaska.gov.

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Department Media Contacts: Communications Director Patty Sullivan at patty.sullivan@alaska.gov or (907) 269-6368. Information Officer Sam Curtis at sam.curtis@alaska.gov or (907) 269-6269.