Fairbanks woman gets 3 years for crime spree — (Juneau Empire)

SSRI Ed note: Woman, boyfriend consume antidepressants, go on crime spree, threaten students, commit burglaries. She does not remember. Bipolar disorder blamed.

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Juneau Empire

Associated Press

Posted Monday, March 29, 2010

FAIRBANKS – A Fairbanks woman pleaded guilty for her role in a crime spree she says she doesn’t remember.

Amber Bankston was sentenced Thursday to three years in prison and three years of probation.

Assistant District Attorney Joe Dallaire says Bankston and her boyfriend went on a crime spree Sept. 9. after consuming almost a full bottle of antidepressants.

He says the couple participated in four burglaries that night. In one incident, Bankston threatened a group of visiting Bulgarian students with a butcher knife and ordered a woman to take off her clothes.

Bankston, who has no prior criminal history, says she only knows about the robberies from reading police reports and talking to her daughter. Her attorney blamed Bankston’s actions on bipolar disorder.