(Omaha, NE) -- The former Oakland, Nebraska Police Chief pleads guilty to using public dollars for personal purchases.
The United States Attorney's Office in Omaha says on Friday, 33 year old Terry A. Poland was arraigned and pleaded guilty to Misuse of Public Funds. Poland also agreed that he has or will surrender his law enforcement certification before the date set for sentencing, and that he will not work as a law enforcement officer in the future. Sentencing is scheduled for July 25, 2023 before Magistrate Judge Nelson.
Federal Prosecutors say between February 2020 and January 2021, Poland purchased about 27 gift cards in four transactions from a sporting goods store operating in Nebraska. Investigators say Poland used the charge account that the City of Oakland had at the store to make the purchases. The total value of the gift cards that Poland acquired with Oakland’s funds was $14,631.00.
Prosecutors say Poland used the gift cards to buy items for himself and family members. Investigators say Poland purchased, among other things, women’s and children’s clothing, an ice fishing house, an auger, fishing equipment and a basketball backboard. Poland bought the basketball backboard in March 2020 for $949.99.
Investigators say an outside auditor questioned the acquisition of the gift cards. At the request of the outside auditor, the Oakland City Clerk requested additional receipts from Poland. Prosecutors say Poland stated that all the gift cards were used to purchase ammunition for the Oakland Police Department and provided to the City Clerk five purported receipts, each captioned “Purchase Statement.” Each Purchase Statement was purportedly from the store and reflected the purchase of ammunition on a particular date during August 2020 to January 2021. The Purchase Statements that Poland provided to the City Clerk were phony. They were not issued by the store, and the transactions, item numbers and item descriptions did not match the store’s records.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.