A former Wrangell doctor has been found guilty of distributing and receiving child pornography.

KTOO-FM reports (http://bit.ly/1glnEnj) that after an hour and a half of deliberations a U.S. District Court jury found Greg Salard guilty on the two charges Tuesday. A third, lesser charge for possession was set aside since it was dependent on a not guilty verdict for the other charges.

Prosecutors say Salard found, downloaded and shared videos that included footage of adult men molesting toddlers. The illegal material was uploaded to the internet through a file-sharing program from a computer registered to Salard.

Salard faces an aggravated rape charge in Louisiana, where he will be extradited to after his sentencing in Juneau on Oct. 9. He faces a sentence of 5 to 20 years in prison.

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Information from: KTOO-FM, http://www.ktoo.org

(Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

An Anchorage physician accused of Medicaid fraud was sentenced in Superior Court Wednesday.

Dr. Shubhranjan Ghosh was sentenced to a total of seven years, with three and a half of those years suspended. He was also sentenced to 10 years probation.

Ghosh, of Ghosh Psychiatric Services, specialized in treating children and adolescents with autism and mental health disorders. He was arrested in 2014 for Medicaid fraud. State prosecutors said he assisted in filing more than $600,000 in false claims. Ghosh was also ordered to pay back $605,000 in restitution.

Originally facing multiple charges in connection with falsifying records and writing false prescriptions for friends, most of those charges were dismissed in a plea deal with the state — where Ghosh pleaded guilty to a single count of medical assistance fraud as well as evidence tampering.

Judge Philip Volland said Ghosh seemed to view Medicaid as a “golden calf,” calling it shocking that “a doctor would use his position to steal money from a program designed to provide medical assistance to the people who need it most.”

Volland said he didn’t buy Ghosh’s claims that his office manager, who actually filed the claims, was acting independently. Instead, Volland called Ghosh the “mastermind” behind the operation, who benefitted greatly from pocketing money that wasn’t his.

This story will be updated.

One Anchorage detective says the level of teen violence in the area has reached an “outstanding” level.

“I don’t recall, at a time period since I’ve been in the unit, the level of violence with juveniles being involved in our cases,” said David Cordie, who has spent seven years with the Anchorage Police Department.

So far this year, there have been three homicides involving Anchorage’s youth, says Cordie. The most recent case, an early-morning shooting at Spenard’s Alano Club on July 18, resulted in the death of 18-year-old Alex Thanapong Yu.

APD held a press conference Wednesday, calling for any witnesses to the Alano Club shooting to come forward. There have still been no suspects taken into custody in connection with the fatal shooting, police say.

“We know there were people who saw this crime take place,” said Cordie, the lead investigator in the case, who adds that Yu was shot and killed on the dance floor. “Please, parents, if you have any children that were at the club that morning, talk to them, bring them into the police department.”

Most frustrating, Cordie says, is that more than 100 individuals were estimated to be at the Alano Club when the shooting happened but not many people have come forward to assist police with their investigation. It’s suspected that witnesses are not comfortable coming forward for some reason. Or, Cordie says, perhaps they don’t think their information is relevant.

“Let us determine if it’s valuable to the investigation,” said Cordie, who calls it a daunting task for APD to tackle this case with limited witness help. “But we need that to decipher that to be able to put it together.”

Be it witness statements from those who attended the Alano Club event or photos/videos that were taken at the scene — anything helps, he says.

“Please, enough is enough,” said Cordie. ”Help us stop the violence in this community.”

Community activist Mao Tosi says he has a theory on why kids aren’t coming forward.

“In the media there’s this perception of don’t trust the police. That concern is around to where talking is not something they want to do especially if there’s no relationship,” Tosi said.

There is a “Stop the Violence” block party happening Saturday, Aug. 1 at Northway Mall from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. in an effort to build community relationships.

Anyone with information is urged to call APD at 786-8900 or his desk line at 786-8679. To provide an anonymous tip, contact Anchorage Crime Stoppers at 561-STOP.

The driver of a Ford Expedition was arrested in the Kasilof area Wednesday after she attempted a head-on collision with an occupied vehicle, authorities say.

Angela M. Glaves, 40, of Soldotna, was arrested for two counts of third-degree assault and reckless driving.

According to an online dispatch from Alaska State Troopers, Glaves was involved in a “disturbance” at a Kasilof home.

When she was leaving the residence, Glaves tried to use the gold Expedition to strike a vehicle with two people inside, troopers wrote. The vehicle was forced off the road and went into a ditch.

AST received a report of the disturbance and attempted head-on collision around 8 a.m. Wednesday. Troopers say Glaves locked herself in the SUV when they tried to contact her.

“Several hours of negotiation” were “met with negative results,” so troopers broke out the driver-side window of the Expedition and Glaves was taken into custody without incident, the dispatch says.

Glaves was remanded to the Wildwood Pretrial Facility and held without bail.

An Anchorage man accused of killing his girlfriend last summer has changed his plea to guilty.

Joshua Almeda, 24, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the shooting death of 20-year-old Breanna Moore Thursday.

Almeda was supposed to go to trial Aug. 3. Instead, a sentencing hearing has been scheduled for Oct. 22 and 23 in front of Judge Philip Volland.

Moore was killed on June 26 of last year. She was found dead of a gunshot wound to the head in Almeda’s parents’ Hillside home.

Almeda originally told police he did not shoot Moore.

A grand jury indicted Almeda on charges of both first- and second-degree murder. By agreeing to plead guilty to second-degree murder, Almeda could face a sentence between 10 and 99 years.

Since their daughter’s death, Moore’s parents have pushed for increased education on teen dating violence. They were present at Almeda’s change of plea hearing.

“At this point, he’s admitted to killing Bree,” said Moore’s father, Butch. “And that’s what we’ve all known … I think to try and go in front of a jury with the evidence that is there, there was no chance of him avoiding murder 1.”

Moore’s mother, Cindy, says she is one step closer to getting justice for her daughter.

“She was an amazing person and she didn’t deserve this,” she said.

–Lauren Maxwell contributed reporting. 

ANCHORAGE — Anchorage police have released a photo of a vehicle they believe was involved in an early morning hit and run that claimed the life of a woman on Friday.

The vehicle shown in the photo is described as “an older model full size SUV,” either white or light in color, according to police. The make is similar to a Chevrolet Tahoe.

Courtesy Anchorage Police Department

Claudia Kuzakin, 39, was found around 1:37 a.m. on Mountain View Drive between Park Street and Klevin Street. She was transported to a local hospital and declared dead after being struck by the SUV.

“The Anchorage Police Department understands drivers involved in such incidents may panic and react in a manner contrary to their true character by fleeing the scene,” a statement from APD said. “Drivers are reminded when involved in collisions involving death or physical injury they are obligated to render assistance to the injured person(s).”

Anyone with information is asked to call APD at 786-8900, or to submit an anonymous tip by call Anchorage CrimeStoppers at 561-STOP.

Claudia Kuzakin / Courtesy Facebook

Earlier

Anchorage police are asking the public for information after a pedestrian was killed in an apparent hit-and-run in Mountain View early Friday morning.

Around 1:40 a.m., the Anchorage Police Department responded to the intersection of Mountain View Drive and North Park Street following reports of a female in the roadway.

When police arrived at the area, they found 39-year-old Claudia Kuzakin, an apparent hit-and-run victim, said APD spokesperson Renee Oistad in a statement.

Kuzakin was taken to a hospital and declared dead, police say.

Anchorage police said they had no suspect information as of late Friday morning. APD asks anyone with information to call dispatch at 786-8900. Anonymous tips can also be provided by calling Crime Stoppers at 561-STOP or by going online to AnchorageCrimeStoppers.com.

Including the Friday morning fatality, Anchorage has seen four fatal hit-and-runs and three serious injury hit-and-runs in 2015, Oistad said. In all of the cases — except for Friday morning — APD has arrested a suspect or has a suspect and is still building a case.

Update

An Anchorage woman says she and others tried to save a man who was shot in his car Monday evening.

Around 6:30 p.m., residents in east Anchorage reported hearing multiple shots fired near the intersection of Creekside Center Drive and Muldoon Road. Several people found a man with multiple gunshot wounds in his car.

“All I know is I heard the shots, I ran for help. I tried to do what I can as an innocent bystander,” said Carlette Carney, one of the first people to get to the victim.

Carney says the 911 dispatcher told them to take the victim out of the car. When he stopped breathing, they began performing CPR until medical personnel arrived.

“Everybody was working together as a team and unfortunately there was nothing else we could do,” Carney said. “We’d exhausted everything and unfortunately a life was taken.”

The suspect fled on foot, according to witnesses. Anchorage police went door to door talking to potential witnesses but so far no arrests have been made.

KTVA 11’s Jacquie Slater contributed to this story.

Original Story

Police are investigating a fatal shooting in Northeast Anchorage.

Just after 6 p.m. Monday, the Anchorage Police Department received reports that a man had been shot near the residential area located on the 7800 block of Creekside Center Drive.

When APD responded, they found a victim who suffered a gunshot wound and was pronounced deceased at the scene.

Police and APD’s crime scene unit are at the scene investigating, as of 7:15 p.m.

No suspects have been taken into custody at this time.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Three men charged in the brutal 2013 attack of a man sleeping outside have admitted to their role in the man’s death.

In a plea deal, 26-year-old David Walent and 20-year-old Jerrick Blankenship pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. Lewis Martin pleaded guilty to manslaughter, according to Anchorage District Attorney Clint Campion.

The Anchorage Police Department says surveillance video showed the trio and another man punching, kicking and using a road sign to beat 50-year-old Ferdinand Marquez near the Anchorage Gospel Rescue Mission on Tudor Road in September 2013. A judge will decide their sentences.

Lewis Martin’s brother — 24-year-old Matt Martin — was previously sentenced to four years in prison for his role in the crime.

Walent told investigators the men attacked the 50-year-old because he believed Marquez had jumped him a few days before the beating.

In the darkness on the last day of July, three unidentified men climbed the Alaska Capitol and stole the American and Alaska flags.

The Juneau Empire reports (http://bit.ly/1eQjNwS) that the men were caught on security cameras during the 1 a.m. flag theft on Friday, July 31.

Legislative Affairs Agency Chief of Security Steven Daigle emailed camera footage to legislative staffers on Monday afternoon.

Video shows three men walking down the street, breaking through a chain-link fence around Capitol construction and later leaving through the same location.

Juneau Assemblyman Jesse Kiehl shared the photos on a Juneau community Facebook page. He told the Empire by phone that stealing the flags was “just the wrong thing to do.”

Juneau police say they are investigating the incident.

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Information from: Juneau (Alaska) Empire, http://www.juneauempire.com

(Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

The Anchorage Police Department is investigating a home invasion that took place in Fairview Monday night.

Police say three men wearing hoodies entered 92-year-old John Scott’s East 13th Avenue apartment and robbed him at gunpoint. Scott says they stole a safe that contained thousands of dollars.

“Ain’t nothing I can do but look at them,” Scott recalled. “Glad they left me alive.”

One of the suspects also allegedly assaulted a woman in her 50s who was visiting Scott and tried to defend him, he says.

“He jumped over this table and hit her over there with his pistol,” Scott said, describing the attack.

Nadine Jackson, an upstairs neighbor, says she heard the attack and rushed down to help.

“She was bleeding from her head,” Jackson said of the female victim. “She had blood all over her shirt and it was all over the ground and she was just walking around hysterical.”

The woman was treated at an Anchorage hospital and released, Scott says.

The robbery was not the first time Scott has been attacked in his home. In April, he was shot three times by another intruder.

“Shot in the leg, in the side and the arm. What can I do? They know I’m helpless,” Scott said.

Police say the descriptions of the recent robbery’s suspects are “weak,” but Scott says he has an idea who did it. He says one of the suspects tried to sell him a gun two weeks before the attack.

“I believe this is a targeted incident, that they knew what was there,” said APD Sgt. Mike Couterier.

The investigations into both attacks are ongoing. No suspects have been arrested in either case.

An Anchorage nonprofit that provides services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities says it has been the target of theft — again.

The Arc of Anchorage is asking for the public’s help tracking down two people who stole some tools from the organization Tuesday night.

Ian Casey, The Arc’s operations manager, says two people broke a window on a maintenance truck. They came back twice throughout the night and stole power tools from the truck’s cab.

The thieves also took a duffel bag of hand tools that they dropped in the parking lot.

“When stuff like this happens it’s funds we really want to have going towards the people that we serve,” Casey said. “And it has to go towards things like fixing windows, repurchasing things and adding security, which can be very expensive.”

This isn’t the first time things have been swiped from the organization. In December, donated goods were stolen from The Arc.

Bing Maps

A Sleetmute man was arrested Wednesday after he allegedly struck a man with an ax.

Wednesday afternoon, Alaska State Troopers in Aniak received a report that a man — later identified as 25-year-old Kristopher Gregory — had assaulted and injured a 56-year-old man around 3 in the morning Wednesday, according to an online dispatch. The attack reportedly happened in the victim’s home.

Aniak troopers responded to the Kuskokwim River community in a state aircraft. An investigation found Gregory “physically assaulted an adult male with his fists and struck the victim on top of the head with an ax,” troopers wrote.

The 56-year-old said he was able to grab the ax is it came down, “which softened the blow” but still caused injuries, according to the dispatch. The man’s injuries are believed to be minor, said AST spokesperson Beth Ipsen.

Gergory was arrested for second-degree assault. He was taken to the Aniak jail and held pending arraignment.

Troopers say alcohol was a factor in the assault.

Authorities have seized thousands of dollars worth of marijuana and hashish from a Barrow-bound Wasilla man’s luggage.

Tyrone Barr was arrested on multiple drug counts and remanded to the Anchorage jail, according to an online dispatch from Alaska State Troopers.

An investigation launched Wednesday after a North Slope Borough police investigator working in Anchorage found a piece of luggage at the Anchorage Ted Stevens International Airport that reportedly reeked of marijuana.

A search revealed 478 grams of processed pot, 1,911 grams of marijuana edibles and 523 grams of hashish butter. In all, the marijuana and pot products have an estimated street value of about $200,000 in Barrow, troopers wrote.

After getting a search warrant, investigators went to Barr’s Wasilla home for evidence of a commercial marijuana grow-op. They seized 66 growing plants at both vegetative and budding stages. Authorities said they also found evidence of a previous harvest.

With the warrant, AST says they seized more than 4 pounds of marijuana, about 842 grams of hashish butter, digital scales, hashish filters and a gun.

The pot seized in Wasilla has a local street value of roughly $45,000, troopers say, and the hashish would go for about $20,000 in the area.

An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the estimated street value of the Barrow-bound marijuana and pot products was $20,000, rather than $200,000. This has been corrected. 

The suspect as seen in footage captured during the robbery. Courtesy Credit Union 1 via the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Anchorage Division

ANCHORAGE — Anchorage law enforcement is looking for a man who robbed a local bank Friday morning.

At approximately 10:15 a.m., the man entered the Eureka Street Credit Union 1 and approached a teller station, where he presented “what appears to be a silver revolver” and demanded money from multiple bank tellers, according to a statement from the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Anchorage. He then fled in a vehicle, heading east toward A Street.

The suspect is described as a “light skinned black male” in his mid 30s. He is 5-feet-7-inches to 5-feet-10-inches tall with a heavy build and black hair, according to the FBI. He was wearing a black and white jacket at the time of the robbery, as well as a Los Angeles Lakers hat and black plastic-framed sunglasses.

“He also walked with a slight limp in his left leg,” the FBI said.

Anyone with information about the robbery or the identity of the suspect is asked to call the FBI at 276-4441, or the Anchorage Police Department at 786-8500.

The suspect as seen in footage during the robbery. Courtesy Credit Union 1 via the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Anchorage Division

Photo courtesy ASD

Photo courtesy ASD

Photo courtesy ASD

Anchorage police have arrested a 14-year-old in connection with a playground fire at an Eagle River Elementary school in early August.

The teen was charged on Friday with felony third-degree Criminal Mischief for intentionally setting fire to the rubber mulch on the Alpenglow Elementary School playground in the early morning hours of Aug. 1, according to a statement from police. Police say the juvenile attempted to put it out but the fire was reignited roughly six hours later because of “the heat of the rising sun and increased winds.”

The teen was identified as a suspect through the use of the school’s surveillance system and “other sources,” police said.

Anchorage School District Superintendent Ed Graff says the cost of replacing the equipment may be $40,000 to $60,000. Restitution for damages will be sought, according to Graff.

A Wasilla man has been charged after he allegedly abducted two girls in North Pole and then let them go.

Michael Bowen, 40, is charged with felony kidnapping. The girls — 7 and 9 years old — said they were taken while riding their bicycles home from Safeway on Saturday, Aug. 1, according to a sworn affidavit signed by an FBI special agent.

The 9-year-old told authorities a man put the girls in the front seat of a pickup truck, stowed their bicycles in the truck bed and drove them around before dropping them off in a dental clinic parking lot, the court documents say.

According to the affidavit, the girls’ mother told authorities the elder daughter had her cellphone and that she had tried to call it. The 9-year-old said when the phone rang while she was in the truck, the man snatched the phone from her. The girls’ father also went looking for the children after they didn’t respond.

Bowen — who eventually admitted to taking the girls — said he kidnapped them because “he wanted to scare the parents,” according to the affidavit.

He said he thought the girls were “too young to be out there on their own” and “wanted to teach the girls’ parents a lesson,” the court documents say.

“Bowen admitted that he knew what he did was wrong and further stated that he did it once and would likely do it again,” the affidavit says.

The girls’ accounts of the abduction, which included descriptions of Bowen and the pickup he drove, helped authorities track down and arrest the Wasilla man, the FBI says.

“The true heroes in this case are the two young girls who were able to provide detailed information about their abduction that led to the identification of Mr. Bowen,” an FBI statement says.

Bowen’s capture and arrest involved a multi-agency effort, including the FBI, North Pole police, Fairbanks police, University of Alaska Fairbanks police and Fort Wainwright’s Army Criminal Division and Military Police.

The FBI says it is asking for the public’s help identifying possible other victims and provided a photo of Bowen’s truck.

Courtesy FBI

–This is a developing story.

A recent check of sex offenders in Anchorage found that some were not living where they reported.

During the two-day “Operation Midnight Sun,” the Alaska U.S. Marshals Service — along with the Anchorage Police Department and the state Department of Corrections — performed compliance checks for registered sex offenders who are under supervision with state probation in Anchorage.

Eighty sex offenders were living at the location indicated on the Alaska Sex Offender Registry. Nine were found to be “non-compliant,” and warrants were issued, according to a statement from the U.S. Marshals Service in Alaska.

Of the non-compliant sex offenders, one had moved out of state, prompting a federal investigation.

Updating photos for the sex-offender registry and probation home visits were part of the multi-agency operation that took place Aug. 6-7. The following items were also seized:

1 .22-caliber rifle

6 cellphones “for analysis”

2 computers “for analysis”

1 PlayStation

About 4 ounces of marijuana and drug paraphernalia

A former Southeast Alaskan police officer and an Alaska-based U.S. Coast Guard officer have been indicted for defrauding the state’s Permanent Fund Dividend system.

The Juneau Empire reports (http://bit.ly/1DNeTN8) a grand jury on Friday brought indictments against Valent Maxwell, a former officer for the city of Klawock, and in a separate case, U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Geoffrey Michael Barela.

Both men allegedly broke their Alaska residency but still continued to apply for PFD money.

Maxwell faces three felony counts for providing false information on his 2013-2015 applications to the state. Barela faces two counts for the same charge for his paperwork filed in 2011.

Barela and Maxwell are expected to appear in Juneau Superior Court at a later date. It is not clear whether they have attorneys yet.

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Information from: Juneau (Alaska) Empire, http://www.juneauempire.com

(Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Gene Geisler

Facebook

Updated Thursday, Aug. 13 at 9:25 a.m.

ANCHORAGE – A former network manager for the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation was indicted Wednesday on 76 counts of possessing and distributing child pornography.

An Anchorage grand jury indicted Gene Geisler, 38, based on allegations he distributed images of child sexual exploitation to an undercover investigator while he was living in Bethel and worked at YKHC, according to a statement from the Alaska Department of Law.

A warrant was issued for his arrest with bail set at $200,000 plus a court-approved, third-party custodian. Wednesday evening, Geisler was located and arrested in Goose Creek, South Carolina, where he was held pending extradition, according to an Alaska State Troopers dispatch posted Thursday morning.

According to troopers, search warrants were served at Geisler’s Bethel home and work in September 2014 after an investigation into child porn distribution in Alaska. Assistant Attorney General Adam Alexander noted the quantity of counts is unusual.

Geisler is accused of using the YKHC hospital’s network infrastructure “to further his own illicit criminal activities,” the DOL statement says. Beyond Bethel, YKHC administers health care to several rural communities in southwest Alaska.

In all, Geisler is alleged to have had about 29 terabytes of child erotica or child sexual exploitation made up of two million images and at least 13,000 videos, prosecutors say.

Eleven of the counts stem from videos Geisler allegedly shared with an Alaska Bureau of Investigation investigator in Anchorage. Fifty-six counts of possession of child pornography comprise a “representative sample” of “56 known victims and series identified in Geisler’s collection by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children,” the DOL statement says.

The nine remaining counts of distribution of child pornography are based on Geisler’s alleged possession of at least nine digital devices that had more than 100 images of child sexual exploitation.

Alexander says none of the victims are from the Bethel area. In a statement, YKHC says Geisler has not worked for the health care provider for almost a year.

“YKHC has been fully cooperating with authorities and continue to investigate this matter internally,” the statement says. “None of YKHC’s patient data, or other sensitive information has been compromised.”

If found guilty, Geisler faces a maximum sentence of 99 years.

Courtesy Juneau Police Department

A Juneau resident was arrested in the early morning hours of Wednesday after burglarizing a home.

Around Aug. 1, Albert Mazon, 25, allegedly burglarized a home on the 22000 block of Glacier Highway. A release from the Juneau Police Department says three revolvers were stolen and have not been recovered.

Mazon is also a person of interest in other burglary cases.