Fairbanks locksmith Forrest R. Holton pleaded guilty Monday to stealing antique currency worth between $250,000 and $500,000 from the estate of Fairbanks banker William "Bill" Stroecker.

His plea was not part of a plea bargain, so Superior Court Judge Michael McConahy will be able sentence him to jail terms anywhere from 1 year to 3 years for the crime of first-degree felony theft. McConahy could give less or more time than this sentencing range if he finds factors that mitigated or aggravated Holton's crime.

Monday's hearing took less than 10 minutes. Holton's lawyer, Gary Stapp, requested an hour of court time at Holton's Nov. 9 sentencing to present more details about his client.

The theft occurred Dec. 29, 2010.

After Stroecker died in November 2010, the keys to his four safety deposit boxes at the downtown KeyBank could not be found.

Holton, 35, a locksmith with multinational security company Diebold, was called to drill into them.

He later made a verbal and written confession that he took a red envelope with U.S. Bank Notes, a predecessor to today's Federal Reserve Notes, that were issued by private banks.

The crime went unreported for months until several local people spotted the rare items on an online auction site and contacted the Stroecker estate.

Fairbanks police determined Holton sold 10 of the notes to an auction company on Jan. 26 for $82,000. He was in the process of selling another 30 to 40 notes with an East Coast currency dealer.

To read the complete article, see:MAN CHARGED IN THEFT OF RARE ALASKAN NATIONAL BANK NOTES(www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v14n24a18.html)