Alaska judge submits retirement letter following misconduct investigation
Complaints involved the judge being late to hearings due to watching sports on TV, as well as reports of him imitating ethnic voices
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - A Nome Superior Court Judge submitted a retirement letter to the governor after a year-long investigation into alleged misconduct by him.
According to the letter, Judge Romano DiBenedetto informed Gov. Mike Dunleavy that he plans to leave his office on April 1.
DiBenedetto noted in his letter that he still intends to receive benefits starting in November 2028. He submitted the letter to Dunleavy from Oak Fork, Illinois.
DiBenedetto has been the subject of a year-long misconduct investigation.
A complaint was first filed on Feb. 24, 2025. An official investigation started on April 9, 2025. There were two specific incidents that the court was investigating.
The first happened on Jan. 8, 2024, when DiBenedetto participated in a motion hearing occurring in Unalakleet. The motion hearing occurred after normal work hours, and DiBenedetto’s participation was delayed by nearly one hour because he was watching a televised sporting event, according to court records.
When subsequently interacting with the involved attorneys and while off record, DiBenedetto explained his delay to the lawyers as due to “getting lost.”
The commission found that this conduct appears to be part of a pattern where DiBenedetto canceled, moved, or delayed hearings for personal reasons with little or no advance notice to participants, or started hearings late, or did not make himself available during full court hours.
The second incident involved a series of complaints against DiBenedetto for conduct outside the courtroom. While in the presence of court staff, DiBenedetto, according to the investigation, on more than one occasion discussed testimony that would occur in his courtroom. When discussing the testimony or comments of participants in judicial proceedings, he would imitate ethnic voices.
The commission found that by imitating ethnic voices of court participants, DiBenedetto undermined confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary.
DiBenedetto agreed to the violations of impropriety and conduct, but disagreed with acting with bias or prejudice.
“While Judge DiBenedetto’s impersonations ran the risk of creating the appearance that he was acting with prejudice or bias, the consensus amongst the court staff was that Judge DiBenedetto was not acting with actual malice, prejudice, or bias when impersonating others. The witnesses’ sworn statements also demonstrated that his misconduct did not cause actual harm to a client or case,” the commission wrote.
The Alaska Commission on Judicial Conduct recommended that DiBenedetto receive a public reprimand as the appropriate sanction for his violation of conduct. The areas of violation that DiBenedetto was avoiding were impropriety, the appearance of impropriety in all activities, and the performance of the duties of judicial office impartially and diligently.
DiBenedetto was appointed to the Superior Court in 2017 by then-Gov. Bill Walker.
Alaska’s News Source reached out to DiBenedetto’s attorney, but was told he has already left the office for the day.
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