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About The Bulletin. (Bend, OR) 1963-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 21, 2022)
A2 The BulleTin • Friday, January 21, 2022 The Bulletin LOCAL, STATE & REGION how to reach us CIRCULATION didn’t receive your paper? Start or stop subscription? 541-385-5800 PHONE HOURS COVID-19 data for Jan. 20 Deschutes County cases: 36,867 (675 new cases) Deschutes County deaths: 225 (zero new deaths) Crook County cases: 4,561 (45 new cases) Crook County deaths: 62 (zero new deaths) Jefferson County cases: 5,666 (128 new cases) Jefferson County deaths: 70 (zero new deaths) Oregon cases: 559,976 (10,034 new cases) Oregon deaths: 5,916 (8 new deaths) COVID-19 patients hospitalized at St. Charles Bend on Thursday: 63 (4 in iCu). The Bulletin had been tracking the seven-day average case count based on state data since local cases were first reported, until the state stopped providing county-level data for weekends or holidays. When data is available, The Bulletin will continue to publish information about the pandemic. 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Friday 7 a.m.-11 a.m. Saturday-Sunday and holidays GENERAL INFORMATION 541-382-1811 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri. ONLINE www.bendbulletin.com EMAIL bulletin@bendbulletin.com AFTER HOURS Newsroom ................................541-383-0348 Circulation ................................541-385-5800 NEWSROOM EMAIL Business ........business@bendbulletin.com City Desk .............news@bendbulletin.com Features.................................................................. communitylife@bendbulletin.com Sports ................. sports@bendbulletin.com NEWSROOM FAX 541-385-5804 OUR ADDRESS Street .............. 320 SW upper Terrace drive Suite 200 Bend, Or 97702 Mailing ........... P.O. Box 6020 Bend, Or 97708 B ADMINISTRATION Publisher heidi Wright ..............................541-383-0341 Editor Gerry O’Brien .............................541-633-2166 Lawsuit: Brown unlawfully commuted sentences of nearly 1,000 inmates BY ZANE SPARLING The Oregonian Two Oregon district attor- neys and the relatives of three homicide victims on Wednes- day accused Gov. Kate Brown of unlawfully freeing nearly 1,000 inmates, filing a new le- gal challenge that seeks to slam the gate on over 70 proposed commutations. District attorneys Patri- cia Perlow of Lane County and Doug Marteeny of Linn County are among the parties alleging Brown has violated clemency procedures that require victim notification. The lawsuit, filed in Marion County Circuit Court, asks a judge to halt Brown from allowing those convicted of crimes as minors from apply- ing for commutation. “We are asking that the court compel the governor to fol- low the laws that are already in place,” said Monique DeSpain, a lawyer for the Kevin L. Man- nix law firm, which filed the Bulletin file photo Oregon Gov. Kate Brown commuted the sentences of 912 inmates who were deemed at heightened risk of contracting COVID-19, according to a June 2021 letter she wrote to state lawmakers. case on behalf of Perlow, Mar- teeny and the homicide vic- tims’ relatives. Brown commuted the sen- tences of 912 inmates who were deemed at heightened risk of contracting COVID-19, according to a June 2021 letter she wrote to state lawmakers. The freed inmates were med- ically vulnerable, had com- pleted at least half their sen- tences and were not serving time for crimes against people. Brown also commuted the sentences of 41 inmates who fought the historic Labor Day 2020 wildfires, according to the June letter, which is cited in the lawsuit. Those released didn’t “present an unacceptable safety, security, or compliance risk to the community,” the let- ter said. Forty-four inmates and three jailers have died of COVID-19 since the onset of the pan- demic, state records show. The lawsuit alleges Brown broke rules requiring individ- ual commutation applications and unlawfully delegated her responsibilities to state agen- cies. “This lawsuit is not personal on my part,” Marteeny said in a statement. “I believe our laws put limits on (Brown’s) actions. I am working to enforce those limits.” Perlow, in a statement, ar- gued Brown was ignoring crime victims’ statutory and constitutional rights. “The gov- ernor’s priority is offenders of crimes, many of them violent,” Perlow said. A spokesperson for Brown declined to comment. Aliza Kaplan, a Lewis & Clark Law School professor who frequently helps inmates prepare clemency applications, said the governor’s actions were in line with historical standards. “She’s using it in the exact way it should be used,” Kaplan told The Oregonian. “These people have been punished sig- nificantly, and even in a place like prison, they have managed to rehabilitate themselves, and the governor is offering them mercy.” The lawsuit also seeks to halt Brown’s reconsideration of youth offenders’ sentences. The Oregon Department of Corrections said in October that some 250 youth offenders would be eligible for commuta- tion if a 2019 law giving them “second look” hearings halfway through their sentences were to be retroactive. DEPARTMENT HEADS Advertising Brian naplachowski .................541-383-0370 Circulation/Operations Jeremy Feldman ......................541-617-7830 Finance anthony Georger ....................541-383-0324 Human Resources ................541-383-0340 TALK TO AN EDITOR City Julie Johnson ...................541-383-0367 Business, Features, GO! Magazine Jody lawrence-Turner ............541-383-0308 Editorials richard Coe ...........541-383-0353 News Tim doran .......................541-383-0360 Photos .........................................541-383-0366 Sports Mark Morical ...............541-383-0318 TALK TO A REPORTER Bend/Deschutes Government Brenna Visser .............................541-633-2160 Business Suzanne roig ............................541-633-2117 Calendar .....................................541-383-0304 Education Bryce dole .....................................541-617-7854 Fine Arts/Features david Jasper .................................541-383-0349 Health Suzanne roig ............................541-633-2117 La Pine ........................................541-383-0367 Public Lands/Environment Michael Kohn ............................541-617-7818 Public Safety Garrett andrews ......................541-383-0325 Redmond.....................................541-383-0367 Salem/State Government .. 541-383-0367 Sisters .........................................541-383-0367 Sunriver .....................................541-383-0367 REDMOND BUREAU LOCAL BRIEFING High Desert Museum among grant recipients from commission The High Desert Museum and Tower Theater Foundation are among several Central Oregon nonprofits awarded grants from the Oregon Arts Commis- sion for 2022. The largest award for Central Oregon went to the High Desert Museum, which will receive $17,725 from the commis- sion this year. The Tower Theater Foun- dation Inc. was awarded $8,077. Awards also went to BendFilm ($7,016), Sisters Folk Festival ($8,589), and Sunriver Mu- sic Festival ($4,899). At the High Desert Museum, the fund- ing will help support bringing arts and culture in programming and exhibitions, said Heidi Hagemeier, museum spokes- person. An example is the works of three Native American artists that will be fea- tured in an upcoming original exhibition “Imagine a World,” which opens Jan. 29. COCC plans ‘car-mencement’ for 2022 graduates Central Oregon Community College health and safety — COCC is pleased to share that this year’s ceremony will again take place as a drive-thru ‘car-mence- ment,’” said Alicia Moore, the college’s vice president of student affairs. Graduates will be grouped into waves based on their major and “for social dis- tancing and logistical purposes.” They will remain in their vehicles until they step out and onto a stage to receive their degree or certificate, with faculty joining at certain times. Madras man struck by car, killed Central Oregon Community College/Submitted photo Central Oregon Community College had a “car-mencement” ceremony in 2021. announced Thursday that it will hold a drive-thru ceremony for students gradu- ating from the college in 2022. A press release from the college said the ceremony on June 11 in Bend was moved to drive-thru in an effort to pri- oritize “student, staff and community health, and building upon the successful precedent of last year’s drive-thru cere- mony.” “After overwhelmingly positive feed- back from students, their families and many staff members — as well as out of an abundance of caution for everyone’s A Madras man walking in the road on U.S. Highway 97 after his car ran out of gas was struck by a car and died Wednesday night. Anthony Manuel Hernandez, 40, was walking in the southbound lane between Redmond and Bend when he was hit by a black Mercedes GI5. The driver was Howard Dietrich, 45, of Portland, Oregon State Police reported. Police and emergency medical per- sonnel responded to the scene of the crash at about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday. — Bulletin staff reports Mailing address ..................P.O. Box 6020 Bend, Or 97708 Phone ......................................... 541-617-7829 CORRECTIONS The Bulletin’s primary concern is that all stories are accurate. if you know of an error in a story, call us at 541-383-0367. TO SUBSCRIBE Call us ......................541-385-5800 • Home delivery and E-Edition ..........................$7 per week • By mail .................................$9.50 per week • E-Edition only ...................$4.50 per week To sign up for our e-editions, visit www.bendbulletin.com to register. TO PLACE AN AD Classified ......................................541-385-5809 advertising fax ..........................541-385-5802 Other information ....................541-382-1811 OBITUARIES no death notices or obituaries are published Mondays. When submitting, please include your name, address and contact number. 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They may not be reproduced without explicit prior approval. EMBEZZLEMENT OF $1.6M Former adoption agency bookkeeper gets 4.5 years in prison BY MAXINE BERNSTEIN The Oregonian A former bookkeeper for an international adoption agency who stole more than $1.6 mil- lion from her employer and her own family was sentenced Wednesday to 4½ years in fed- eral prison. U.S. District Judge Marco A. Hernandez said he considered that the fraud spanned about eight years and affected multi- ple victims. Melodie Ann Eckland, 56, of Hillsboro pleaded guilty to wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, filing a false tax return and willfully failing to collect or pay payroll taxes. She was also ordered to pay more than $1.6 million in res- titution. The illegal scheme was dis- covered in March 2018, when one of the owners of the Jour- neys of the Heart adoption and surrogacy agency received a call from a Premier Commu- nity Bank representative in- quiring about several business checks that had been presented for payment with a signature of the owner that appeared to be forged, according to prose- cutors. Eckland stole funds directly from the adoption agency’s business account at the bank by using the Journeys of the Heart computer to make unauthorized wire transfers to her personal U.S. Bank account and by writ- ing unauthorized checks to her- self, according to prosecutors. To hide her fraud, Eck- land maintained two separate QuickBooks files on the adop- tion agency’s computer. To cover the money she had stolen, Eckland applied for loans from at least five lending agencies on behalf of the adop- tion agency, using the names of the agency’s owners without their permission. Eckland al- tered agency financial records to make it appear as though she owned the agency and was au- thorized to enter into the loan agreements. Beginning in 2016, Eckland stopped making the agency’s quarterly employment tax payments to the IRS and stopped filing employment tax returns. As a result, the agency owed more than $94,000 in past due employment taxes. In a further attempt at a cov- er-up, she transferred $123,900 she stole from an account be- longing to the estate of her de- ceased brother-in-law to the adoption agency’s bank account by forging her husband’s signa- ture, according to prosecutors. Eckland, who worked as the bookkeeper for the adoption agency from 2011 until April 2018, spent the money from her thefts on gifts and living ex- penses for her adult children, trips to Hawaii, Mexico and Dis- ney World, groceries and living expenses, prosecutors said. Get great service & great rates. 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