Former manager gets prison time for embezzling from utility

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – A Naknek woman will serve nearly three years in a federal prison for embezzling more the $500,000 from the village utility.

Donna Vukich used the money to pay her daughter’s college tuition and on entertainment items, like spending $51,000 with Norwegian Cruise Lines, said Bryan Schroder, the U.S. attorney in Alaska.

Vukich was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court in Anchorage for stealing the money from the Naknek Electric Association, where she was the former general manager.

She earlier pleaded guilty to theft from a program receiving federal funds and filing a false tax return.

Schroder in a statement said Vukich has repaid the embezzled funds to the utility.

Naknek is village of 550 about 300 miles (483 kilometers) southwest of Anchorage.

Information from: Anchorage Daily News, http://www.adn.com