A Fairbanks jury has convicted a former Yukon-Koyukuk School District employee who turned a taxpayer-funded purchase card into her personal shopping account, buying everything from plane tickets to lingerie — and even beard oil — in a $35,000 spending spree.
Lataushia Shajuan Blackmer, 50, was found guilty of one count of Scheme to Defraud and one count of First-Degree Theft following a several-day trial before retired Superior Court Judge Mark Wood.
Prosecutors said Blackmer began working for the district’s grants department in July 2018 and was issued a purchase card for school-related expenses. Just two months later, she began using the card for personal purchases, continuing until her termination in June 2019.
Evidence showed that she misappropriated roughly $35,000 over nine months, including plane tickets for herself and a friend who was not employed by the district, groceries, beauty products, and lingerie. Many of the purchases were made on weekends, after hours, or while she was on personal or sick leave.
District employees became suspicious after spotting the out-of-state plane tickets, triggering an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with help from past and present school district staff.
“The defendant exploited her position of trust to steal public funds from a school system, which is not only a crime, but also a betrayal to students, teachers, and taxpayers,” said Special Agent in Charge Rebecca Day of the FBI Anchorage Field Office. “The FBI will continue to work with partners across all jurisdictions … to hold offenders accountable.”
Fairbanks District Attorney Joe Dallaire praised the work of Senior Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Crail, Intern Aaron Schlenkert, and paralegals Mariana Rios and Jaboha Smothers, calling the case “a collaborative effort to see justice prevail.”
Sentencing is scheduled for January.
This is not an uncommon scheme and, frankly, she is at the low end of offense. What is odd is how long it took to find her guilty. Six years is a long time and one wonders if she found some relief by the Biden crime family. Also, it is rare that a state crime gets prosecuted at the Federal level. Some crimes might be interstate but the source of the embezzled funds was mostly local.
“What is odd is how long it took to find her guilty.”
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Nothing odd about it. Just look at the perp’s name: Lataushia Shajuan Blackmer
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Frankly, I am surprised any actual charges were filed.
CB. You could have used fewer words, like, I’m a racist.
You are calling yourself a racist?
Yeah, sounds about right.
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After all, I made no assumptions, but you did. You assumed that Lataushia Shajuan Blackmer and I are of different races. And, it is likely you assumed that Lataushia Shajuan Blackmer’s race.
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I on the other hand did not indicate any such assumption of any kind. I made a general statement, and you came to erroneous conclusions. Conclusions which say a lot more about you than they do about me.
Oh, and thanks for taking the bait.
Frankly, I am surprised it took almost 24 hours for a leftist to jump on that.
The $35K could have been used by the school district for the purchase of LGBTQ manuals for the students. What a rip-off.
Such swift justice, , only seven years now, with sentencing in January if it’s not delayed. Will she even get a slap on the wrist or offered a new job by the state. Sure makes one proud of our court system.
It’s so nice to know that our Alaska Lawbreakers have made sure to vote this kind of behavior back in (via overriding Dunleavy’s education veto) rather than to be sure thieves are held accountable. I guess when you ARE the thief, you wouldn’t want to oust yourself, would you?
That is horrible! Good thing she wasn’t working with students! Or was she? Lingerie? Beard oil? This is asinine the length of time! What ever happened to a right to a speedy trial?