A former Lakeville middle school teacher has pleaded guilty to two counts each of gross misdemeanor stalking and felony burglary in connection with a rash of crimes that he blamed on “financial ruin.”
Christopher Jerome Endicott, 51, of Apple Valley, entered the guilty pleas Monday in Dakota County District Court in Hastings. On Feb. 1, Endicott pleaded guilty to felony identity theft.
As part of Monday’s plea agreement with prosecutors, one count each of gross misdemeanor theft and felony financial transaction card fraud will be dismissed at sentencing, which is set for June 17. The two stalking charges were also reduced from felony level.
Dakota County Attorney Jim Backstrom said Monday his office will be seeking an aggravated upward departure, which would add up to 13 years and six months in prison.
“That’s the most we can seek under state sentencing guidelines in connection with the most serious offense,” he said. “There were 14 identity theft victims, two stalking victims and two victims involved in burglary offenses … so it’s certainly a troubling series of cases.”
Meanwhile, Endicott’s attorney, Bruce Rivers, said Monday he will be asking for probation, based upon Endicott’s ongoing therapy and amenability to probation.
“So there’s a big gap between what both sides are seeking in the sentencing in this case,” Backstrom said. “Obviously we think this is serious patterns of criminal behavior that warrants a lengthy prison term.”
Also Monday, Judge Tim Wermager ordered that Endicott undergo a presentence investigation and psychological evaluation.
Before joining Century Middle School in Lakeville as its principal in 2012, Endicott was the assistant principal at Dakota Hills Middle School in Eagan, which also is in the Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan district. He resigned in May 2018.
‘FINANCIAL RUIN’
The slew of allegations against Endicott surfaced in January 2018 after Apple Valley police said someone from his home accessed a phone and an iPad that belong to the Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan school district, where his wife worked as a counselor and teacher.
Endicott would later be accused of stealing personal and financial information from employees of the school district, their family members and others.
Search warrants were executed at Endicott’s work and Apple Valley home, and computers and other electronic equipment were seized. Analysis of the electronics revealed significant personal and financial information about school employees and others, the charges say.
Investigators discovered Endicott made purchases using their credit cards and wrote about accessing several accounts. In one writing, Endicott indicated that he was in “financial ruin,” according to charges.
NEIGHBORS ALSO TARGETED
In March 2018, Endicott was accused of burglary for breaking into his next-door neighbors’ home in Apple Valley in 2015 while they were away, prying open a safe and stealing two rings. The rings were found in Endicott’s file cabinet at Century Middle School in February and traced back to the neighbors.
Also in March 2018, he was charged with second-degree burglary and theft for allegedly stealing sports cards in late 2017 from someone who rented his house. An employee of a sports memorabilia store put a value of $738 on the stolen cards, charges said.
Endicott also has a gross misdemeanor stalking pending with the city of Apple Valley. While under investigation in January 2018, Endicott allegedly drove near an Apple Valley police detective’s home twice and to the police station three times in one day.
Before Monday’s guilty pleas, other than a speeding conviction in Dakota County in 2011, Endicott had not had a criminal record in Minnesota, court records show.
His attorney said Endicott “feels terrible” and that “he is sorry to his victims.”
“This is not who he thought he was going to be at this point in his life,” Rivers said.