Alaska News

Maggie Ahmaogak: How to punish Eskimo Whaling Commission embezzler?

Attorneys spent Tuesday at the Federal Courthouse in downtown Anchorage trying to figure out what sort of punishment will be handed down to a woman who spent nearly two decades leading a unique commission charged with protecting cultural bonds between Alaska's Inupiat and Yupik Eskimos, and the bowhead whale.

Maggie Ahmaogak, the former executive director of the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission, is now a convicted felon, accused of stealing $420,000 from the North Slope nonprofit. During what equates to a "mini trial" of sorts, a federal judge will decide just how much money the 62-year-old Ahmaogak took from the organization she headed for 17 years.

At stake is how much money Ahmaogak will have to personally repay, and how harsh of a sentence she should receive. Federal prosecutors seek a prison sentence of two years and nine months; Ahmaogak's attorney, Kevin Fitzgerald, argues that the disgrace Ahmaogak has suffered as a felon -- since pleading guilty six months ago to stealing commission funds -- is enough punishment.

Fitzgerald also seeks to have jail time reduced to home confinement for a little more than a year.

At Tuesday's hearing, an IRS special agent was questioned over the minutiae of Ahmaogak's spending. Points of contention included overtime and bonuses she paid herself, using the commission's credit card for personal use and whether or not per diem payments were appropriate while Ahmaogak was living and working in Anchorage.

In May, Ahmaogak avoided a trial by pleading guilty to federal theft and fraud charges, and to money laundering. Teresa Judkins, who replaced Ahmaogak as AEWC executive director until 2008, has also admitted to stealing from and defrauding the nonprofit. Judkins' theft from the organization was estimated at about $100,000. She is expected to testify against Ahmoagak and is scheduled to be sentenced, herself, next month.

Maggie Ahmaogak's September 2011 indictment rocked Arctic Alaska and the community of Barrow, America's northernmost city. At the time she was charged, Ahmaogak's husband, George Ahmaogak, Sr., had been campaigning to lead the North Slope Borough as mayor, a particularly powerful position overseeing an 89,000-square-mile region that's home to the nation's largest oilfields as well as eight Alaska Native communities that continue to rely heavily on subsistence hunting.

ADVERTISEMENT

Ahmaogak ultimately lost the election.

The Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission was formed in 1976, conducts whale research and promotes cultural and hunting traditions. Largely funded by federal sources, it pulled in $2.4 million from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration between 2004 and 2007, according to the U.S. Attorney's office.

The hearing continues Wednesday.

Contact Suzanna Caldwell at suzanna(at)alaskadispatch.com

Suzanna Caldwell

Suzanna Caldwell is a former reporter for Alaska Dispatch News and Alaska Dispatch. She left the ADN in 2017.

ADVERTISEMENT