The former director of the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission has been sentenced to more than three years in jail and ordered to pay back more than $393,000.
The Anchorage Daily News reports that 62-year-old Maggie Ahmaogak was sentenced Wednesday for embezzlement. She pleaded guilty in May to theft, money laundering and misusing money that belonged to the commission.
Ahmaogak was the whaling commission’s executive director from 1990 until her firing in 2007. Prosecutors say she stole more than $420,000. Her lawyer says the amount is closer to $91,000.
Ahmaogak apologized to the court and said she had abused the trust of the people the commission serves.
U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason said she did not think the former commission director had accepted responsibility.
