Alaska Judge Retires After Misconduct Probe

0:00It's March 28th. This is Anchorage News Today, driven by AI. A known superior court judge in Alaska has announced his retirement following the year-long probe into workplace misconduct. Romano Deben Adeto sent his letter to Governor Mike Dunlevy, planning to step down on April 1 after serving since his appointment in 2017. The investigation kicked off last year after complaints surfaced in late February 2025, focusing on two main issues. One involved repeated delays to hearings, including one after normal hours where the judge was late by nearly an hour due to personal activities. Meanwhile, staff raised concerns about his off-the-record comments outside court, where he mimicked accents of people involved in cases, raising questions about judicial fairness. The judicial conduct commission concluded these actions created an appearance of bias, though they found no actual harm or malice. Deben Adeto admitted to lapses and professional standards, but denied any prejudice. In the end, with a public reprimand on the table, he's opting to retire early and collect

1:02benefits, starting November 28th from out of state.