A former postal worker in the small Interior Alaska village of Huslia intends to change her plea for a charge alleging she stole nearly $50,000 in U.S. Postal Service funds, according to federal court documents.
Jenna Marie Lestenkof was charged with misappropriation of postal funds in late August. The initial court document listed little else than the charge.
On Monday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kelly Cavanaugh filed a plea agreement in the case. Lestenkof has agreed to plead guilty to the single charge, according to the affidavit.
The agreement says Lestenkof was a Postal Service employee in the village but does not say what she did or how long she worked there.
Huslia is home to 322 people on the north bank of the Koyukuk River, 290 miles west of Fairbanks. Its post office was established in 1952, according to the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development.
Between October 2012 and April 2014, Lestenkof took $46,489 in "postal service funds" that were in her control, according to the agreement.
"The funds that she stole were in the form of cash, checks and money orders from the Huslia post office," the agreement says.
The village's city council could not be reached for comment.
The penalties for misappropriation of postal funds includes a maximum of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of probation.
Cavanaugh wrote Lestenkof has agreed to pay $45,023 in restitution. She has already paid back $1,465, he wrote.
The government is not recommending a specific sentence, but the agreement says both parties have agreed to recommend a sentence that does not include imprisonment.
Lestenkof's change of plea is set for Dec. 18 in Anchorage. U.S. District Judge Timothy Burgess has granted a federal public defender's request for transportation and travel expenses for Lestenkof to attend the hearing.