Albany woman sentenced for pocketing fees paid to Linn County

An Albany woman has been sentenced to nearly three years in prison for embezzling more than $200,000 from Linn County while she was a county employee.

Basically, as businesses and developers would pull building permits, she would pocket the fees.

Angela Adams, 50, was sentenced to 37 months in prison during a hearing in Linn County District Court on Wednesday, January 4.

According to court documents, Adams was convicted of three counts of first-degree grand larceny after pleading guilty to those charges. Eight counts of first-degree aggravated burglary and one count of first-degree theft were dismissed.

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Judge Michael Wynhausen also ordered Adams to pay $237,159.79 in restitution to Linn County.

Stealing county money

Court documents say the crimes occurred between February 2015 and November 2020.

Linn County Sheriff’s Office detectives arrested Adams in January 2021, according to an agency news release at the time, while she was the office manager of the Linn County Planning and Building Department.

In March 2020, a county employee told the Linn County Administrative Officer that they suspected Adams was stealing from the department, the news release said.

The executive requested a financial audit of the employee’s department. The audit was completed in November 2020 and revealed financial discrepancies, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

The county administrative officer asked the sheriff’s office to investigate.

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According to the news release, detectives interviewed several county employees and served a search warrant and multiple subpoenas during the investigation. Detectives discovered that about $235,000 in cash payments made to the Planning and Building Department had not been deposited into the Linn County Treasury in the past eight years.

Investigators learned that receipts for cash payments had been deleted from the permit program. Detectives found the files with the help of the county’s information technology department, sheriff’s officials said.

Support from friends and family

Multiple exhibits filed in court prior to sentencing urged the judge to consider a lesser sentence for Adams.

One family member said she needed Adams to take care of her, while others explained what life circumstances and stressors may have led Adams to commit the crimes.

According to Adams’ plea, the felony theft charges carried a maximum sentence of 10 years each.

She is being held at the Coffee Creek Correctional Facility, according to the Oregon Department of Corrections database.

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Maddie Pfeifer covers public safety for Mid-Valley Media. She can be reached at 541-812-6091 or Mad[email protected]. Follow her on Twitter via @maddiepfeifer_

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