Former Pilot Station Mayor Arthur Sammy Heckman, Sr., 68, has been sentenced for a felony conviction of unlawful interference with an election.
Heckman pleaded guilty on Nov. 14, was sentenced to 12 months of incarceration, with all of the time suspended, and five years of probation by Bethel Superior Court Judge Nathanial Peters.
Judge Peters emphasized that the sentencing aimed to support rehabilitation, deter future misconduct, and restore public trust in local government.
In his statement to the court, Heckman apologized to the community but claimed he did not understand that his actions were wrong. Judge Peters, however, found this assertion lacking credibility, citing a 2013 public censure by the Calista Corporation for similar conduct during Heckman’s tenure on its Board of Directors.
Heckman was initially indicted in July 2024 on eight felony and eight misdemeanor charges related to election misconduct in the 2022 and 2023 Pilot Station municipal elections. These charges stemmed from his time as acting mayor following the death of Mayor Nicky Myers in May 2022. According to the Pilot Station Municipal Code, Heckman was to serve as acting mayor only until the October 2022 municipal election, after which a newly seated City Council would elect a mayor.
Instead, Heckman took deliberate actions to obstruct the election process. Immediately after the October 2022 election, he directed City Clerk Ruthie Borromeo to lock away the ballots and prevent them from being counted. The following year, in October 2023, he instructed Borromeo not to hold an election at all, allowing him to remain in power.
The misconduct was reported to the Office of Special Prosecutions and the Alaska State Troopers by concerned residents of Pilot Station, including late City Council Member Anita M. Myers, and local government specialists in the region.The case was investigated by Sergeant Nathan Bucknall of the Alaska Bureau of Investigation and prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Erin McCarthy.
As part of a plea agreement, the remaining charges against Heckman were dismissed. He avoided immediate jail time, and received a slap-on-the-wrist probation for the felony conviction.
A fully suspended sentence does not “restore public trust”………at all.
Why can’t anyone report if Mayor Arthur Sammy Heckman, Sr., 68, is a Democrat or a Republican?
He is a registered nonpartisan. -sd
Should of gave him the full time…
Looks like Judge Peters needs one of those vagina hats.
Five years probation for someone that lives in Bethel is no sentence at all. For an egregious felony that’s absolutely wrong.
Total BS, crooks keep getting away with crimes and corruption, you know he’s a Democrat.