Number of charges reduced for alleged arsonist with drug, mental health problems

A 27-year-old Juneau man admitted in court on Monday that he set a garage on fire and stole more than $100,000 from a construction company, both owned by his father.

Jack Coogan entered a guilty plea for two separate cases, one for a felony arson case and the other for a case that included 17 felony forgery charges, a burglary charge and a theft charge.

According to an affidavit by Assistant District Attorney Amy Paige, Coogan wrote 17 checks to himself from September 2015 to December 2015 while using a stolen checkbook from the Coogan Construction Company. In total, about $123,000 was stolen using the checks.

Coogan’s father, Wayne Coogan, is the owner of the Coogan Construction Company.

Coogan set fire to his father’s garage on Dec. 23, 2015, on Fritz Cove Road, one week after forging the last check from the company checkbook.

“I had previously done things similar to my parents, which was taking checks from their company without permission and cashing them,” Jack Coogan told a Juneau Police Department detective, according to the Feb. 6 affidavit. “The past reaction I found from my parents was mercy. So I took advantage of the mercy from the past.”

[JPD: Man arrested Wednesday for burglary, theft]

Coogan told the detective he used the stolen money to try to move across the country but that his plans were interrupted by a drug addiction. In Juneau Superior Court on Monday, he told Judge Louis Menendez he was entering his guilty plea while under the influence of medication that is aiding him through his mental health recovery.

As part of Coogan’s agreement to plead guilty in both cases, the 20 felony charges he faces will be reduced two felonies, one for theft and the other for arson. Both are class B felonies and Coogan’s attorney, Assistant Public Defender Eric Hedland, asked that Menendez not send Coogan to prison for more than two years for both offenses.

“You appear to be rational,” Menendez told Coogan in court on Monday, referring to Coogan’s medication. Judges are required to ensure defendants are clear of mind when entering a plea.

Menendez said he will sentence Coogan on Sept. 29.

Court records show that the state previously convicted Coogan for misdemeanor criminal trespassing in 2014. His only other activity in court appears to be related to five charges prosecutors dismissed for burglary (2013), theft (2013), criminal mischief (2015), controlled substance possession (2015) and forgery (2015).

• Contact reporter Paula Ann Solis at 523-2272 or paula.solis@juneauempire.com.

Editor’s Note: The headline for this article has been revised to “Number of charges reduced” from just “Charges reduced” to clarify that Coogan’s felonies did not become lesser charges. The reduction referred to is only in the number of felony charges Coogan now faces — two instead of 20.