Palmer Superior Court Judge Heath sentenced a former Alaskan to 689 years in prison after his conviction on 22 counts of Sexual Abuse of a Minor and three counts of coercion, it was revealed on Wednesday.

55-year-old Anthony Gilliam, a former Palmer resident, was sentenced to the 25 counts on Wednesday and was sentenced to 689 years in prison, but with sentencing guidelines on consecutive time, that term was lowered to 248 years. Of that 248 years, the judge suspended an additional 30 years, so Gilliam was ultimately sentenced to serve 218 years.

The case was initiated on November 8th, 2013, by the Alaska Bureau of Investigation-Mat-Su Child Abuse Investigation Unit, when the two step-daughters of Gilliam, one then 23, and living in Alaska, and the other 22, and living in Idaho, reported to troopers that their stepfather had sexually abused them from 2003 until 2009. The two women stated to investigators that the abuse began as they all lived in Alaska and continued after they moved to Idaho.

The Ashton Police Department and the Freemont County Sheriff’s Department assisted the ABI in the investigation and several search warrants were served on Gilliam and his Idaho residence. Following the investigation, the Palmer Superior Court issued an arrest warrant for Gilliam and Idaho officials arrested Gilliam and he was extradited back to Alaska.

When he was brought back to Alaska, his bail was set at $500,000.

Gilliam was convicted on the counts at the end a week-long trial on the 28th of September.[xyz-ihs snippet=”Adsense-responsive”]

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