– Dick Mason

– The Observer

The defense and prosecution painted distinctly different pictures of former Union-Baker Education Service District administrator Lyle Mann during the opening arguments of his trial Wednesday.

Mann faces 8-count and 37-count indictments on charges ranging from racketeering to theft, public misconduct and tampering with public records in a trial being conducted in Union County Circuit Court.

The 37-count indictment charges Mann with one count of racketeering, a class A felony, and 36 counts of tampering with public records. The eight-count indictment charges Mann with two counts of first-degree theft, a class C felony; two counts of second-degree theft, a class A misdemeanor; and four counts of official misconduct, a class A misdemeanor.

Defense attorney Wes Williams of La Grande told jurors Wednesday that Mann was a hard-working administrator who is being charged with crimes in part because he overlooked details while submitting reimbursement forms for travel expenses.

Michael Slauson, assistant attorney general and special deputy district attorney for Union County, described Mann as someone who violated the public trust by filling out reimbursement claims for trips he knew he did not take.

Mann worked for the ESD from 1989 until he was fired in late 2004. He was terminated after a forensic audit by the Pendleton CPA firm of Dickey and Tramper found extensive fraud in the ESD.

Mann was the ESD’s professional technical director and head of its alternative school program. The ESD’s alternative school program grew dramatically during Mann’s tenure.

By 2004 the ESD had at least 15 alternative school sites and was providing educational services at five corrections facilities. The ESD operated programs at sites ranging from Nyssa to Florence. Mann drove 91,246 miles in 2001-02 and 2002-03 while administering these programs, Williams said. The travel made for long days.

"It was not unusual for him to leave at 4 a.m. and arrive back at 10 p.m.,” Williams said.

The former ESD administrator did not have a financial incentive to work so hard, his attorney said.

"He was paid a salary. He did not receive an extra dime for his extra work.”

Williams said Mann traveled so much that it was easy for him to make mistakes when filing travel reimbursement forms for the miles he traveled. Williams said that Mann relied on his daily planner when filling out mileage reimbursement forms. At times his planner was an inaccurate source because of frequent changes in his travel schedule.

This meant Mann sometimes filed travel reimbursement forms for trips he did not take and forgot to file for several trips he did make, Williams said.

The defense attorney said the net result was that the ESD benefited from Mann’s mistakes because he filed for $360 less in travel reimbursement in 2001-02 and 2002-03 than he was owed due to his record-keeping mistakes.

Slauson told the jury that it will be shown evidence indicating that Mann filed reimbursement forms for a number of trips he did not take. Slauson said that cell phone billing records will prove this.

The prosecutor also told the jury that Mann had an employee working under him fill out false travel reimbursement forms to get money to pay for alcohol and meals for school district officials. The meals were provided to officials with school districts the ESD had contracts with or was trying to get contracts with.

Slausen told the jury that Mann had asked the individual to pay for the expense of taking administrators to these meals. However, he could not afford them, thus Mann told the ESD employee to file false travel reimbursement forms to get the needed money. Slausen said that evidence will be presented indicating that the individual filed many false travel expense forms.

Slausen said that the individual has been granted immunity from prosecution and will testify that Mann instructed him to do this.

Slausen said that Mann had been openly paying for alcohol for meals with school district officials. However, when alcohol purchases showed up on expense reports, Ed Schumacher, the ESD’s superintendent through late 2004, told Mann to stop doing this.

Slauson said that Mann then began having people fill out false travel reimbursement forms to raise money for the alcohol purchases.

The trial began Wednesday almost two years after Mann was indicted Aug. 4, 2005, by a Union County grand jury. The trial is set to run through June 29.