A Fairbanks jury has found a former school administrative assistant guilty of misusing thousands of dollars in Yukon-Koyukuk School District funds.
50-year-old Lataushia Blackmer was convicted of two charges on Thursday, including one count of scheme to defraud and one count of first-degree theft, for using about $35,000 in district funds for personal purchases.
Blackmer spent those funds on items like groceries and beauty products, according to the Alaska Department of Law.
The Yukon-Koyukuk School District serves a total of about 1,400 students. The district has 10 village schools along the Yukon, Koyukuk and Tanana river systems. It also sponsors Raven Homeschool, a statewide correspondence program.
The Department of Law press release says testimony showed Blackmer was hired as an administrative assistant in the district’s grants department in June 2018. The release says she had a purchase card to buy things for the district and individual schools.
According to witness testimony, the defendant started using that card improperly just a few months after she was hired. Blackmer was fired in July 2019, after district employees became suspicious.
The Federal Bureau of Investigations investigated the case. Blackmer’s sentencing is scheduled for January 2026.