Superior Court Judge Phillip Pallenberg has seen Larry Reiger one too many times for one too many assault cases. The 60-year-old Juneau resident with a rap sheet of rampant crime and a long list of victims got 16 years in prison with no probation as his penalty for a lengthy and terrifying attack on a woman in January of 2019.
The sentencing on Jan. 2 came after a July trial, in which a Juneau jury convicted Reiger of Assault in the Second Degree, two counts of Assault in the Third Degree, and three counts of Assault in the Fourth Degree.
Evidence at trial showed Reiger repeatedly strangled the victim, including once to the point of unconsciousness, placed the victim in fear for her life, punched her in the face, kicked her, threatened to kill her, and dragged her by the hair as she was trying to flee, according to the Department of Law.
At the sentencing hearing, the victim spoke of how terrified she was during the assault and that she believed she would die before she could escape, feeling surprised to have woken up after Reiger strangled her to unconsciousness.
She emphasized that what happened to her “should not happen to anyone else, ever again.” People who know Reiger describe him as having a violent side to his personality, one that he can hide. They said he tends to attack the weak, while avoiding those who will stand up to him.
In her sentencing memorandum to the court, Juneau District Attorney Angie Kemp detailed Reiger’s lengthy criminal history of 42 prior convictions dating back to 1983, half of which were for assault or assaultive behavior. Describing Reiger as “a clear risk to community safety [who] will almost certainly reoffend once released,” Kemp emphasized the sentencing goal of isolating him in order to protect the public from future harm. Kemp asked the court to impose the maximum term of imprisonment available under the law.
MRAK research shows that to be the case:
Assault | Disorderly Conduct | Reckless Endangermen | Assault (Domestic) | M.i.c.s. – 7 | Cbj42.20.090 A1: Disorderly Conduct | As 11.71.070a2: Controll Substance | Assault 3 | Driving While Intoxicated | Refusal BA | Conceal Merchandise | Ptrp – Petition to Revoke Probation | Assault – 4th Degree | As11.41.230 (A) (3): Assault – 4th Degree | Criminal Mischief | Cbj42.10.010: Assault | Lewdness | Cbj42.20.090 (A) (1): Disorderly Conduct | Mics – 6th Degree | Mics 6th | Assault 3rd | Concealment of Mdse | Sex Assault – 1st DG | Cbj42.10.010 (A) (1): Assault | Resist Officer | Cbj42.10.010 (A) (3): Dv Assault | Assault 4th | Vcor | Cbj20.25.080 (B): Alcohol – Open Container in Public Area | Crim Mischief – Damage Property – Gen | Assault – Purposeful, Reckless Injury | Robbery 2 – Use Force to Prevent Resistnc | Cbj72.10.028: Valid Operators License Required – 1st Offense | Driving While Under The Influence – Under Influence Liquor or Drug | Disorderly Conduct – Challenge to Fight | Cbj42.20.230: Consumption of Marijuana in a Public Place – 1st Offense | Cbj72.02.075: No – Passing Zone
Those charges don’t include some of the ones that were dismissed by prosecutors during plea agreements, such as impersonating an officer during an assault and robbery in Juneau, where the victim was a 16-year-old boy.
Commenting on Reiger’s “truly extraordinary criminal history,” Judge Pallenberg said the individual victims of Reiger’s past assaults would nearly fill the courtroom. He was obviously familiar with many of the cases where Reiger had been in his courtroom but had been cycled back into the community.
Finding Reiger to be a “worst offender,” Judge Pallenberg stated that a fundamental duty of a judge is to protect the public – and he’d seen few people more dangerous than Reiger, who now has three hots and a cot at Lemon Creek Correctional Center in Juneau. He’ll be 75 years old by the time he has a chance to offend again in civil society.
