Apr 21, 2007 - 05:05:12 CDT
Former state senator and tax commissioner candidate Mike Every has reached a plea agreement on charges involving his use of two city pickups while he was mayor of Minnewaukan.Every pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of theft and fraudulent application for certificate of title. In exchange, he will serve no prison time and will have the charges cleared from his record if he stays out of trouble for a year, said Brandi Sasse Russell, an assistant Burleigh County state's attorney.
If Every has any run-ins with the law, he could face up to two years and 30 days in prison, the prosecutor said.
Every also was ordered to pay $575 in fines and fees. The plea agreement became final earlier this month.
Defense attorney Jeff Weikum said Every is "relieved that this matter is over."
"He certainly regrets that things went as far as they did," Weikum said. "The violations in and of themselves were very technical in nature. This wasn't where anybody was attempting to take advantage or take money or property from anybody."
Authorities said Every bought the two pickups in 2004 and 2005 as surplus government property for city use. He was accused of using the trucks as personal vehicles while serving as mayor. Authorities said the sale terms specified the trucks initially had to be used by a government agency, not as personal vehicles.
The federal Office of Inspector General investigated the case and later turned it over to Burleigh County prosecutors. Every initially was charged with felony theft. He resigned as mayor in May 2005 amid questions about the pickups.
Weikum said Every never intended to deceive anyone and committed a "procedural error" for which he is sorry.
He said Every returned the pickups to the city and did not ask to be reimbursed for the purchase price or for the hundreds of dollars he personally invested in repairs.
"If anything, the taxpayers benefited, because they got better pickups," Weikum said.
The trucks were turned over to the state and then given to the Devils Lake Basin Joint Water Resource Board.
Minnewaukan is in Benson County, near Devils Lake. Every was charged in Burleigh County because it was where he bought the two 1988 pickups for $500 each, and where the state Transportation Department is located.
Sasse Russell said prosecutors decided on the deferred sentence because Every does not have a criminal history. "We treated him like we would anyone else," she said.
Every was elected to the state Senate in 2000. He decided last year not to run for re-election, citing a new job and family obligations. He was the Senate's Democratic assistant minority leader in the 2005 and 2003 sessions of the Legislature.
He was the Democratic candidate for state tax commissioner in 2004. He stopped campaigning after disclosures that he had been late in making child support payments from his first marriage, and he lost to incumbent Republican Rick Clayburgh.
Every currently is managing a Devils Lake restaurant, Weikum said.
lake man wrote on Apr 21, 2007 3:14 PM:
K M wrote on Apr 21, 2007 10:26 AM:
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