STEWART, Judge.
Dennis P. Huntington pleaded no contest to one count of first-degree vehicle theft, a class C felony. Because Huntington had a prior felony conviction, he faced a presumptive 2-year term to serve. Huntington contended that statutory mitigating factor AS 12.55.155(d)(9) applied at sentencing; that is, he claimed that the conduct constituting his offense was among the least serious within the definition of the offense. Superior Court Judge Randy M. Olsen rejected the proposed mitigator.
AS 11.46.360(a)(1) (c).
AS 12.55.125(e)(1).
In this appeal, Huntington contends that Judge Olsen erred when he rejected the mitigator. Because Huntington has not convinced us that Judge Olsen's rejection of the mitigator was clearly erroneous, we affirm.
On January 13, 2004, Lee Ivey saw Huntington take her pickup truck. (Huntington was acquainted with Ivey's stepson.) The next day, Ivey happened to drive by the Farmer's Loop Market when she saw her truck in the parking lot. Huntington came out of the store and said to Ivey, "I can explain." Ivey responded that Huntington could provide his explanation to the police. Huntington left on foot.
The police tracked Huntington down with a dog and returned Huntington to the market. Ivey identified Huntington as the person who took her truck and told the police that his name was "Dennis Huntington." Huntington used a tribal ID card to identify himself as "John Evans." However, when Huntington was taken to the Fairbanks Correctional Center, personnel there knew Huntington's true identity.
Huntington was 21 years old when sentenced. His previous felony conviction for failing to stop at the direction of a police officer was entered on February 6, 2002. His probation was revoked in that case several times, and he was on probation in that case when he took Ivey's truck.
Huntington maintained that mitigator (d)(9) applied to his offense because there was no claim for damages to Ivey's truck and because he had the truck for less than two days when Ivey recovered it. While Huntington had the truck, he drove from Fairbanks to Minto and back to see a girlfriend.
Judge Olsen acknowledged that there was no apparent damage to the truck. But Judge Olsen found that Huntington was not returning the truck after having it less than two days when Ivey spotted the truck. Instead Judge Olsen found that it was "happenstance" that the victim found the truck at the Farmer's Loop Market. Judge Olsen did not find the mitigator proven.
Huntington took Ivey's truck without permission and drove it hundreds of miles in less than two days. The truck was recovered fortuitously and apparently had not been damaged. In the circumstances of the case, Judge Olsen could reasonably conclude that Huntington had not proven that his conduct was among the least serious within the definition of the offense. Thus, Judge Olsen's rejection of Huntington's proposed mitigating factor (d)(9) was not clearly erroneous.
See Lepley v. State, 807 P.2d 1095, 1099 n. 1 (Alaska App. 1991) (this court will review a sentencing judge's findings as to the existence of aggravating and mitigating factors under the "clearly erroneous" standard).
Conclusion
Huntington's sentence is AFFIRMED.