A former assistant attorney general in Alaska has been convicted and sentenced for official misconduct stemming from legal advice she provided in 2010.
In April 2010, the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development became concerned about dealings between the Alaska Labor Relations Agency — a state agency — and the Alaska State Employees Association (ASEA) — a union.
Erin Pohland — who in 2010 was the assistant attorney general responsible for advising the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development — was asked to give the Alaska Labor Relations Agency advice over concerns that ASEA-filed documents were believed to have been forged, according to a statement from the Alaska Department of Law.
Pohland advised the state agency but did not reveal her relationship with Skye McRoberts. McRoberts was an organizer in ASEA’s effort to have an election to unionize hundreds of University of Alaska employees. McRoberts was eventually prosecuted for second-degree forgery for submitting falsified documents to help make the election happen. McRoberts paid more than $34,000 in restitution to the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development and UA.
An investigation found months of back-and-forth text messages between Pohland and McRoberts about ASEA’s efforts to organize union employees. They also talked about Pohland’s efforts to help the union while advising the Alaska Labor Relations Agency at the same time, the DOL statement says.
ASEA was successful in pushing forward a union election for more than 2,500 UA employees. The election, however, did not happen because a former union employee reported the forgeries to authorities in August 2010.
Judge Jo-Ann Chung sentenced Pohland to a $5,000 fine and a suspended jail sentence. Although she faced up to a year in jail, Chung said jail time was not warranted even though Pohland was convicted of a “serious charge,” the DOL statement says. Pohland was also placed on informal probation for three years.
“Judge Chung determined that a suspended imposition of sentence was not warranted, which leaves Pohland with a permanent record for her conviction,” the DOL says. “Judge Chung explained that this case was about ‘public trust’ of the Alaska Attorney General’s Office.”
