A locksmith was sentenced to serve three years in jail Thursday for the theft of historical bank notes worth about $400,000 from the estate of Fairbanks banker Bill Stroecker.

The three-year sentence was the maximum possible for former locksmith Forrest Holton.

Superior Court Michael McConahy said Holton's crime demanded high community condemnation because the victim was Stroecker's estate, which Stroecker left to local charities. Holton pleaded guilty to felony theft this summer. He has admitted to taking some of the currency in December 2010 when he was called to drill into four of Stroecker's safety deposit boxes at the downtown Key Bank. He has also admitted keeping a key to a new box and returning later to take uncut sheets of bank notes.

The theft went unnoticed for several months until a Fairbanks resident saw notes he recognized from Stroecker's collection on an online auction. Fairbanks police traced the online auction back to Holton.

Read more: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner - Fairbanks locksmith gets 3 years jail for theft from Bill Stroecker's estate

Except for a few bills worth about $700, all of the stolen currency has been recovered. The estate is suing the Holton and the Diebold company he worked for to recoup some $90,000 expenses related to the theft. Holton may also be ordered to pay some or all of these expense as criminal restitution.

To read the complete article, see:Fairbanks locksmith gets 3 years jail for theft from Bill Stroecker's estate(www.newsminer.com/view/full_story/16366808/
article-Fairbanks-locksmith-gets-3-years-jail-for-theft-from-Bill-Stroecker%E2%80%99s-estate)

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:MAN CHARGED IN THEFT OF RARE ALASKAN NATIONAL BANK NOTES(www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v14n30a16.html)