Press Release

Former Kodiak High School Football Player Convicted of Sexual Assault in the First Degree, Coercion, and Furnishing Alcohol

February 12, 2024

(Kodiak, AK) – On Feb. 12, 2024, a Kodiak jury convicted Jherome Ladera, 24, of Kodiak of two counts of Sexual Assault in the First degree, four counts of Coercion, and two counts of Furnishing Alcohol to a Minor. This encompassed charges against three victims. The jury acquitted the defendant of twenty-four other counts related to physical and sexual assault.

The charges stem from a twenty-month period between January 2017 and August 2018 while the defendant and the victims attended Kodiak High School. The defendant’s status as a member of the Kodiak High School Football team featured during the course of the trial.

Ladera’s next appearance will be a sentencing hearing before Dillingham Superior Court Judge Christina Reigh on Monday June 17, 2024 at 2:00 p.m. in the Kodiak Courthouse. Ladera was remanded to the Kodiak Jail after the jury verdict and will remain incarcerated until his sentencing hearing. At his sentencing, Ladera faces a term of imprisonment between 20 to 30 years on the Sexual Assault in the First Degree charges. Those counts would not merge at sentencing. Under Alaska Law for the two Sexual Assault in the First Degree convictions he faces a presumptive composite term of 26.25 years. He faces a term of 0 to 2 years for the counts of Coercion. Finally, he faces a term of up to 1 year for the counts of Furnishing Alcohol to a Minor.

For more information, contact Kodiak District Attorney Gustaf Olson at Gustaf.Olson@alaska.gov.

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Department Media Contacts: Communications Director Patty Sullivan at patty.sullivan@alaska.gov or (907) 269-6368. Information Officer Sam Curtis at sam.curtis@alaska.gov or (907) 269-6269.