Ex-treasurer arrested at Lane courthouse

After no show for embezzlement hearing

EUGENE: The woman accused of stealing money from the McKenzie River Food Pantry failed to appear when her hearing came before the Lane County Circuit Court on January 13th. Terry Lee Miller, 48, of Blue River was scheduled to plead guilty to charges she allegedly stole $17,894 over a two-year period when she served as the non-profits treasurer.

Three days later, she was arrested in the courthouse shortly after 10 a.m. and lodged in the county jail for nine individual felony charges - four counts of Theft in the First Degree, one of Theft in the Second Degree, and four counts of Fraudulent Use of a Credit Card.

Court records say Miller became the treasurer of the food pantry in August of 2017 and was issued an Oregon Community Credit Union debit card. A May 13th arrest warrant noted the card was authorized “for the sole purpose of managing the food pantry’s finances, expenses and procurements.”

According to the deputy who made the original arrest, Miller admitted she used the card intentionally one time - “to pay for gasoline at the Blue Sky Market because she didn’t have any cash of her own.”

Miller was alleged to have used the card to make other personal purchases of prescription drugs, farm products and groceries, as well as online transactions for her telephone and utility bills as well as a newspaper subscription.

The McKenzie Food Pantry, which is a partner agency with FOOD for Lane County, has continued to operate out of the former Lane Community College satellite office at McKenzie Schools. It is open on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month at 10 a.m. People can obtain a variety of items including meat, dairy products, vegetables and canned goods. In addition, the pantry has also provided annual Christmas food boxes with turkeys and hams along with gifts for children.