A Kotzebue man was sentenced Friday to serve seven years in federal prison for stalking and threatening a state attorney and the then-executive director of the Native Village of Kotzebue.
Louis Holger Eklund, 41, was arrested in 2018 and had reportedly threatened and stalked the two officials and their family members for about two years, according to an indictment filed in the case. A jury found him guilty on two counts of cyberstalking in late April.
Eklund targeted the officials because they initiated official proceedings after a report was made with the Alaska Office of Children’s Services alleging he had abandoned his son, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Alaska. The two officials were carrying out their professional responsibilities, the statement said.
Eklund repeatedly called and emailed both officials and falsely represented himself as a federal judge or government official, the indictment said. He violated a protective order that had been issued for one of the victims, according to the indictment.
Bryan Wilson, the acting U.S. Attorney for Alaska, said in the statement that Eklund’s actions were terrifying.
“There is perhaps no higher calling than protecting children who may be in harm’s way. Stalking and threatening these individuals for carrying out their professional responsibilities is detestable and a criminal act for which we will always seek justice,” he said.
Eklund was sentenced Friday to spend seven years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release.
Correction: A previous version of this story identified one victim as the then-president of the Native Village of Kotzebue, but she was actually the executive director.