FAIRBANKS - A fifth person was sentenced Wednesday for his role in a mail theft ring that targeted the outlying areas of Fairbanks.

Jeramy Freriks, 33, pleaded guilty earlier this year to felony counts of theft and fraudulent use of an access device. In exchange, prosecutors dropped more than a dozen other felony theft and forgery charges against him.

He received a sentence Wednesday of five years in jail with 18 months suspended. Superior Court Judge Michael MacDonald also revoked 10 months of suspended time for a 2006 case, which involved mail theft motivated by drugs.

“As long as Mr. Freriks has a drug problem, no amount of time will deter him,” MacDonald said.

Freriks did not speak at the brief hearing, though his attorney, Lori Bodwell, said he has received his high school equivalency diploma since being incarcerated earlier this year and he is seeking drug treatment.

The four other members of the ring who have entered into plea agreements with prosecutors have received sentences ranging from 1-5 years to serve, plus suspended time and probation.

Three other people indicted in connection with the group are awaiting trial.

Local law enforcement agencies received more than 700 reports of mail theft or tampering between September and December of 2008.

Cases ranged in severity from displaced mail being found at the side of the road to stolen checks and credit cards being used to purchase thousands of dollars worth of items from local businesses. Authorities estimated losses in the range of tens of thousands of dollars. Drugs, specifically methamphetamine, were the main motive for the thefts, they said.

Freriks was convicted in 2006 of being a part of a group of 10 loosely organized mail thieves who traded tips about how to steal mail and pass checks. That group, which targeted the Goldstream Valley, North Pole and Chena Hot Springs Road areas beginning the summer of 2005, went on shopping sprees throughout the state, racking up as much as half a million dollars in purchases using stolen cash and forged checks.

Contact staff writer Chris Freiberg at 459-7545.