Extradition may take Wisconsin man from frying pan to the fire

While Thomas Kehrberg, 34, looked forward to parole from Anvil Mountain Correctional Center last week, he also waited to see if Wisconsin’s attorney general would extradite him to face charges on being a fugitive from justice stemming from an earlier crime.
Kehrberg was due to leave Anvil Mountain Correctional Center on parole Jan. 11 connected to a felony assault conviction.  Kehrberg had come to Alaska in summer 2014 to start a new life. However, a Wisconsin court had Kehrberg under supervised parole when he left Wisconsin, according to a judgment of conviction and warrant received by Alaska’s attorney general. Now the long arm of Wisconsin law has reached for Kehrberg. A regional chief of the Wisconsin Dept. of Corrections, Peter Hylkema, has advised Alaska Attorney General Jahna Lindemuth that Wisconsin intends to extradite Kehrberg.
An Alaska court document signed by Lindemuth says Kehrberg absconded on or about May 24, 2014 from Wisconsin’s felony parole supervision stemming from a 2013 sentence for felony burglary. A warrant had been issued for his arrest, dated in May 2014.
Authorities transported Kehrberg from AMCC to an Anchorage jail late last month.
On Dec. 28, Kehrberg appeared by telephone for a Fugitive From Justice hearing.
However, Magistrate Judge Bob Lewis put Kehrberg’s hearing on hold until Jan. 8 to give the Nome Second District Court—and Kehrberg—an opportunity to sort out whether he will leave under a warrant for his return to Wisconsin, or waive extradition and return of his own accord, or whether Wisconsin will decline having him returned.
Near the end of 1997, Kehrberg pleaded guilty to a charge of burglary committed in May 1997. He received a two-year prison sentence in September 2013, according to Wisconsin court documents, which show Kehrberg released on parole under supervision in March 2014.
After leaving supervision without permission and coming to Anchorage in summer 2014, Keherberg lived a homeless lifestyle in Campbell Creek Park in Anchorage. He met Barb Towarak while in Anchorage. The two started hanging out and eventually fell in love and had their wedding in December 2015, a story featured in an Anchorage newspaper. The couple later took up residence in Unalakleet, Towarak’s hometown.
In November 2016, Alaska State Troopers received a report of a disturbance between Kehrberg and Towarak. A trooper affadavit filed in court in Nome stated that alcohol was a factor in the domestic violence situation at the Unalakleet residence. As a result, Kehrberg was charged on domestic violence assault and sentenced to jail. He is due to be released on parole on Jan. 11. Kehrberg stated in court Dec. 28 that he had completed alcohol treatment.
The continued Fugitive From Justice hearing slated for Jan. 8 may shed light on Kehrberg’s immediate future.

 

The Nome Nugget

PO Box 610
Nome, Alaska 99762
USA

Phone: (907) 443-5235
Fax: (907) 443-5112

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