Prosecutor: Michael Paschall ‘basically manipulated the bank account’ to bilk $441,000 from fire department
The former chief of a Delta Junction-area volunteer fire department pleaded guilty Thursday to defrauding the department of more than $440,000.
Michael Paschall agreed to a plea deal during a hearing before Superior Court Judge Patricia Haines.
In exchange for his plea, the state agreed to drop three felony counts of first-degree theft and a misdemeanor count of evidence tampering.
The charges relate to Paschall’s actions while serving as chief of the Rural Deltana Volunteer Fire Department and secretary of the department’s board of directors.
Investigators say he stole the money from August 2017 and January 2024 and covered-up the theft until board members discovered it two years ago.
That’s when board members learned that Paschall hadn’t made the fire department’s insurance payments for several years. In response, they fired Paschall and removed him from his position as board secretary.
Dave Neuberger was the board chair at the time, and he said in a 2024 interview that he notified Alaska State Troopers about what he called “accounting discrepancies” right after they discovered the insurance problem and numerous other questionable transactions.
“Once we discovered this serious breach of trust, we took immediate action to address the situation,” Neuberger said.
The board was forced to temporarily shut down the department, because it lacked insurance to operate and locked the doors to its two fire stations until it could reinstate the policy. In response, Delta’s city fire department agreed to temporarily take over Rural Deltana’s outlying coverage areas and paid to use some of its equipment. Rural Deltana resumed operating last fall.
Prosecutor Andrew Grannik summed-up Paschall’s actions in Thursday's hearing in response to Judge Haines’s request for the factual basis of the fraud charge.
“This gentleman was the chief of Volunteer Fire Department at Delta Junction, and he was also in control of the bank account,” he said. “And in that capacity, he basically manipulated the bank account around payment through his own credit cards, and issued payments to himself.”
Grannik said Paschall will face up to three years in prison for his guilty plea.
Defense attorney Hannah Marx argued he should only face a maximum sentence of 2 years. The two sides will present their arguments in court during a sentencing hearing scheduled for July.
In addition to possible jail time, Paschall also must pay more than $440,000 in restitution to Rural Deltana.
