(Anchorage, AK) – An Anchorage man was sentenced on Monday to 14 years and 6 months for armed robbery, impersonation of an officer, and interference with official proceedings. 

Judge Michael Spaan sentenced 29-year-old Christian Andre Young to 12 years with 3 years suspended for committing armed robbery, one year for impersonating an officer, and 18 months for interference with official proceedings. He also ordered Young to be on probation for 5 years.    

Young faced a presumptive sentence of up to 20 years. In sentencing, Judge Spaan noted that Young was previously convicted in 2012 of robbing two escorts at gunpoint in their hotel room, and was still on probation for the 2012 robbery when he committed the 2016 offense. 

Judge Spaan ordered the time imposed in the impersonation charge to run concurrent with the armed robbery charge.  With this concurrent sentence and with suspended time, Young will serve a total active term of imprisonment of 10.5 years for the crimes. 

Assistant District Attorney Saritha Anjilvel, who prosecuted the case, thanked the Anchorage Police for their hard work in the investigation.  Young is awaiting trial on two more felony cases, which arose while Young was on bail and awaiting trial on the robbery and impersonation charges.  He is expected to be tried once the court resumes felony jury trials after January 4, 2021. Young remains innocent until proven guilty in those cases. 

A jury on January 22nd convicted an Anchorage man of pretending to be a police officer and attempting to get money from a woman he had arranged to meet as an escort, and then robbing her at gunpoint when she refused to cooperate.

The jury found 29-year-old Christian Andre Young guilty of Robbery in the First Degree, Impersonating a Public Servant, and Interference with Official Proceedings.  

The robbery and impersonation charges arose in June 2016 when Young set up a hotel room appointment with the woman and then attempted to get money from her by pretending to be a police officer. When the victim did not cooperate, he robbed her at gunpoint of money and an IPad.

The interference charges arose two months later, while Young was awaiting trial. Young asked his girlfriend, Chante Garcia, to offer the victim money and the return of her IPad if she would drop the charges against him. The victim reported this to Anchorage Police Department detectives working the case, and both Young and Garcia were then charged with Interference with Official Proceedings. Garcia later agreed to cooperate with law enforcement and the charge against her was dismissed.

At trial, Young admitted he had stolen the money and the IPad when the victim was in the bathroom but denied he ever had a gun or pretended to be a police officer. Young also testified that he did not know it was illegal to offer money to refuse to cooperate with police or the prosecutors.  

The jury deliberated for four hours before finding Young guilty of all three charges.

Assistant District Attorney Saritha Anjilvel, who prosecuted the case, thanked the Anchorage Police Department for their hard work in investigating the crimes.  

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