PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Three former Oregon Department of Transportation employees and one of their spouses were sentenced in Clackamas County Friday on multiple charges stemming from a theft and reselling scheme, the district attorney’s office said.
The district attorney’s office said the scheme spanned approximately from 2004 to 2020 and is estimated to have cost taxpayers between $5 million and $6 million.
The former ODOT employees who were sentenced are John Tipton, Frank Smead, Jr. and Autumn Arndt. Marta Smead, Frank Smead, Jr.’s wife, was also sentenced, but did not work for ODOT.
The former ODOT employees were accused of abusing their official positions to purchase equipment using ODOT vendor accounts. The district attorney’s office said they created fraudulent invoices, stockpiled the fraudulently purchased equipment and resold the items for personal profit.
Investigators believe the scheme began when Tipton, in 2004, worked as an assistant manager of an ODOT landscaping crew. The district attorney’s office said he began a criminal business of repairing chainsaws using parts stolen from ODOT. Over the years, investigators said he involved his supervisor Smead, Jr. and Arndt.
According to the district attorney’s office, Tipton would purchase equipment and parts using ODOT accounts and then take them home or to a storage unit for resale. Smead and Arndt would help sell the fraudulently purchased items online, the district attorney’s office said.
Smead also approved invoices of the fraudulently purchased items for payment by ODOT and claimed the purchases were for official ODOT business, the district attorney’s office said.
Investigators said Marta Smead also sold the fraudulently purchased equipment online.
ODOT officials discovered the crimes while conducting an unrelated investigation. The officials turned evidence over to Oregon State Police.
On Friday, Tipton was sentenced to 12 years in prison for six counts of first-degree aggravated theft, nine counts of computer crime, 12 counts of first-degree theft, and nine counts of first-degree official misconduct.
Smead, Jr. was sentenced to seven years in prison for five counts of first-degree aggravated theft, nine counts of computer crime, four counts of first-degree theft and nine counts of official misconduct.
Arndt was sentenced to five years in prison for five counts of first-degree aggravated theft, nine counts of computer crime, four counts of first-degree theft, and nine counts of official misconduct.
Marta Smead was sentenced to three and a half years in prison for one count of first-degree aggravated theft, six counts of computer crime, and six counts of first-degree theft.
The Clackamas County District Attorney’s Office said the court will hold a restitution hearing in the spring for the four defendants.