NMU Public Safety arrested former ASNMU President Amber Lopota two weeks ago after being charged for embezzling more than $1,000 from ASNMU.
On Wednesday, March 26, Lopota was charged with embezzlement by the agent of $1,000 or more but less than $20,000 after a police investigation, according to NMU Public Safety. The embezzlement charge against Lopota came one week before the final meeting for the current ASNMU assembly of the winter semester. Lopota was then arraigned on Thursday, March 27, according to Public Safety.
NMU Public Safety director Mike Bath said steps are in motion to take the charge to court. Bath also said not much can be discussed until a preliminary trial is conducted.
“We were investigating a possible embezzlement and conducted an investigation,” Bath said. “Ultimately, we then placed charges at the prosecution office. Amber was arrested for the charges and over $1,000 was embezzled. This Thursday (April 10) is the first trial, so that’s the next step. We will know more after that.”
The release of information to the public was delayed, Bath said, due to the status of the investigation.
“The investigation was still ongoing at that point,” Bath said. “Not much could have been said last week.”
Larry Pagel, ASNMU adviser, said until the investigation is over, not much can be said at this time.
“There is still an ongoing investigation,” Pagel said. “I am not able to comment.”
Lopota was ASNMU president for the 2013-14 academic year after being elected in April 2013. Lopota declined to comment, and said all questions must be deferred to her attorney at this time. Karl Numinen, Lopota’s attorney from Pence & Numinen, said they are still looking into Lopota’s case and Lopota has left the university.
“We are still in the process of investigating the allegations against Ms. Lopota,” Numinen said in a statement to The North Wind. “Things aren’t always what they seem at first, and I expect that as this process unfolds, the full truth will be revealed.
“In the meantime, Amber has chosen to withdraw from NMU instead of submitting to a hearing before the student conduct board. Unfortunately, the student conduct board operates behind closed doors – the hearings aren’t open to the public – and their decisions can be based purely on hearsay and other questionable forms of ‘evidence’ if the board determines that the allegations are merely ‘more likely than not’ without any of the procedural safeguards every person is entitled to in a court of law.”
According to Bath, Public Safety forwarded the case to Judd Spray, Marquette County Chief Assistant Prosecuting Attorney. Spray said he confirmed the charge placed against Lopota.
“The max of the penalty is five years in prison or a $10,000 fine,” Spray said. “The preliminary examination is pending in the 96th District Court.”
According to ASNMU, Lopota still held the position of president as of their last meeting on Tuesday, April 8. Newly elected ASNMU president Katerina Klawes will take office on Tuesday, April 15.
The preliminary trial for Lopota is set for 3 p.m. Thursday, April 10 at the Marquette County courthouse.
Junior public relations major Abby Roche, ASNMU vice president and Lopota’s running mate, declined to comment at this time.
a REAL rep • Apr 24, 2014 at 10:17 am
Our dearest commenter “m” would have to be the Melissa Zeglen (I can spot the wish-I-was-a-lawyer-BS a mile off of her) who was supposed to be a representative of ASNMU and stopped coming to meetings halfway through the semester to have more time visit with her own parolee neighbor before he went back to prison – lame reason for not showing up. So stop acting like you have any real information on what the procedures are or were for the executive board members. You were far from an active rep much less one of them! There is much more to this story than any of you or I know outside of a basic primary article that was nothing more than the standard press release.
DFP • Apr 23, 2014 at 11:27 am
To answer many questions, while it has not been proven the amount of money that Lopota is being accused of embezzling, the OFFICIAL CHARGE must read as such:
“Embezzlement by the agent of more than $1,000 but less than $20,000.”
This is a legal charge used when money embezzlement cases are still under investigation. It’s used very frequently during the early stages of embezzlement felonies, as it is a felony charge and no longer considered a misdemeanor.
While Cody might be accused of writing a charge that sounds too spread out, he actually wrote it as professionally and legally as one physically could. I’ve read a great deal of Boyer’s work from down in Detroit. While there was a single enrollment issue earlier this semester, his other work has been nothing short of incredible as a student journalist. Working at an independent paper amongst your own peers at an institution that is filled with fellow students stereotyping their paper as just that…”their paper”…Cody, or any other student editor in chief, is under a great deal of pressure to run, write and produce stories at an independent level.
He has done just that and more. It shows in his productivity. It shows in his consistency. It shows in his professional-style journalism. CNN is looking at him for a reason.
Andy • Apr 21, 2014 at 11:05 pm
Stanley, you supposedly value being “fair, just, and equal” yet you feel that it’s fair to point fingers at greer’s kids simply because they’re greer’s children. That’s pretty low, dude. You’re not anymore fair or just. Are you blaming other people so you don’t feel so bad about the embarrassing life you lead? I can’t say I really blame Greer or any one really for wanting to get rid of you when you were president, Stanley. I was embarrassed as an alumni, I can’t imagine if I were on the board with you. Who would want to work with a chicken shit (pun intended) or have a major cock (so punny) representing the student body? Blame no one but yourself for how people treated you.
Ps get a shrink
DFP • Apr 20, 2014 at 9:58 pm
“A journalist never wishes to cover only happy news. Such ambition is wanderlust in a world where shadenfraude overpowers. No…the REAL journalist covers what has been hidden from the untrained eye in the hopes [that] measures will become established that something (un)deserving of such press does not happen again.” -Walter Cronkite
Imposter! • Apr 18, 2014 at 4:56 pm
You’re not the real Ben Stanley. You asked a question that implies analytical thought. You, sir, are an imposing cunt.
Ben Stanley • Apr 17, 2014 at 10:40 pm
Wow, you guys are real smart, anyone can say that they are Ben Stanley on here. How do you know if I am Ben Stanley or not?
wpkeffington • Apr 15, 2014 at 11:37 am
Ben, I don’t think that you are “smart, good or tactful” enough to read and comprehend a children’s book, let alone a newspaper article.
m • Apr 13, 2014 at 6:40 am
(4) If any of the following apply, the person is guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment for not more than 5 years or a fine of not more than $10,000.00 or 3 times the value of the money or property embezzled, whichever is greater, or both imprisonment and a fine:
(a) The money or personal property embezzled has a value of $1,000.00 or more but less than $20,000.00.
(b) The person violates subsection (3)(a) or (c) and has 1 or more prior convictions for committing or attempting to commit an offense under this section. For purposes of this subdivision, however, a prior conviction does not include a conviction for a violation or attempted violation of subsection (2) or (3)(b).
(c) The person violates subsection (3)(a) and the victim is a nonprofit corporation or charitable organization under federal law or the laws of this state.
M • Apr 13, 2014 at 6:36 am
Ben are you aware of the credit cards that were accessible via the ASNMU office and for which the president’s name appeared on. That we’re subsequently removed by public safety? These credit cards were for ASNMU purposes. I believe the balances of the cards were not reported weekly.
Benjamin • Apr 12, 2014 at 3:39 am
I am clearly not smart, good or tactful enough to speak to most of you based on your names and comments, however to Jim you are correct I am not a journalist and probably never will be, (although it does look enticing as a career) and yes, I’ve brought many things to the eyes of TNW however they choose to write stories which arouse the lowest levels of cognizance. She (Greer) is not an evil person but fair, just, equal, would not be my first choice of words to describe her. She had power in the place where she works and she uses it (as many might) to protect the ones she loves and to cast away the ones she sees as a threat.
I just want to make sure that everyone knows that in order to get money from the ASNMU account Chris Greer MUST know about it, where as Larry Pagle has hardly anything to do with it when it really comes down to it. The ASNMU account is held at Wells Fargo, the ASNMU President and Treasurer. both are on the account but can not take monies out without the deans office (unless they just did that for me
Nathan also should have know about it as he gives an update every meeting to what monies ASNMU has and where the money that has been spent from the last meeting has gone.
I also find it strange that she may have stolen up to $20,000 when her fines were only up to a possible $10,000.
I didn’t state this to determine a pecking order, I just hope you will treat others the way you would like to be treated your self and for you to know I find it quite peculiar that she was able to get all of this with no one noticing for at least this long.
These are some of the small points that TNW could have pointed out but instead they went the path of least resistance and missed a couple things which may or may not have been very important.
I hope this all gets sorted out and I hope that everyone has a great finish to their semester.
Larry the Cable Guy • Apr 10, 2014 at 9:10 pm
I heard a rumor that there is a chicken on the run. Is this true?
Jim Sheilds • Apr 10, 2014 at 8:55 pm
Ben S.
If one wanted to drum up school spirit and only run positive news stories, then it would behoove one to start a newsletter or trade publication. Newspapers, even college newspapers, report on what is happening on and around campus, as well as those things that affect campus life.
Students deserve to know that someone—especially the president of the student government—has allegedly embezzled more than $1,000 from funds that were paid by a portion of students’ tuition. Unfortunately, the world isn’t always filled with happy news.
And what, may I ask, is your experience in journalism? Being that you are criticising Cody, it would be interesting to see if you have an understanding of the basic journalistic process.
During your year of running ASNMU, very little was done. You didn’t do much for school spirit, nor did you build positive, fruitful relationships with the administrators at Northern. I find it in poor taste that you criticize Cody and levy accusations against Chris Greer without showing much evidence to back up your own claims. Someone well-versed in journalism would provide sources or quote others who could give credibility to your claims. Did you ever tell Cody or any other editor at the northwind about Chris Greer’s abuse of power?
I guess all I can hope, Ben, is that you’ll pray for us Debbie Downers. We can’t all wear rose coloured glasses all the time.
wpkeffington • Apr 10, 2014 at 6:52 pm
Ben, you are a narcissitic jackass. Some day, you are going to come to the realization that you are a small, insignificant little pissant who has wasted his entire life blaming others for your own problems. Get fucked you swine.
Ron Burgundy • Apr 10, 2014 at 5:40 pm
Yea Cody i’m not impressed, your irrelevant when it comes to bringing people news try covering something worth reading. Naked drunk students running around, employees embezzling money, whats next, I think the next, “new student enrollment takes a down fall due to horrible school news coverage”
Stay classy,
Ron
Tanya • Apr 10, 2014 at 5:25 pm
Hahahaha this is awesome. It’s funny how much time & energy she put in to get Ben Stanley impeached for absolutely nothing and even though he tried so hard to do good things for ASNMU… What…. a douche she is.
Chicken Atlarge • Apr 10, 2014 at 5:16 pm
Should you really be talking Stanley?
https://www.thenorthwindonline.com/?p=3864421
J • Apr 10, 2014 at 3:59 pm
This is an awful article. Crappy journalism. Honestly, you shouldn’t even be writing on this until you have acquired more information than this. This is someone’s future on the line, and all this article is going to do is start a boatload of contorted rumors and gossip mongering. You really don’t care though do you? Unfortunately our student body lacks any sort of insight into the gravity of anything. “Sports parties sports parties sports parties”, and unfortunately when a real issue comes up everyone is completely inept and fills in the blanks with tactless responses instead of actual founded opinion. I’m sure there are many, many sides to this story, as well as many other stories that will not be revealed, which is due to the apathy of our student body. Cheers.
benjamin stanley • Apr 10, 2014 at 2:23 pm
This whole school needs prayer or a new administration. You can blame these young adults for their childish behavior because they should know better; however if they had real leaders to teach them how to lead, perhaps this sort of thing would not happen as much. I think it’s ironic though that Chris Greer is the advisor for the financial branch of ASNMU and she isn’t mentioned at all anywhere. I have spent three years in this organization and ran it for one whole year and got nothing but drama and trouble from Chris Greer who has many complaints brought up against her but has gotten off scott free everytime as well as her children getting off from drug accusations and more… talk about abused power. Take a look into some real problems in the school BEFORE they get to the court room… be a real journalist…. or build school spirit and stop being a Debbie Downer.
Cody B. You’re a really smart and talented guy but I’m honestly disappointed with your journalist ability this year. I challenge you to impress yourself, not the drama seeking sophomore reader but pretend someone from the time magazine is reading your articles. Keep it up, do your best everytime
Nicole Castillo • Apr 10, 2014 at 1:05 pm
Then again he is also a university employee and God forbid NMU gets bad press.
Nicole Castillo • Apr 10, 2014 at 12:31 pm
Why isn’t Nathan Bradbury, the ASNMU, treasurer mentioned or interviewed? This alleged crime is regarding funds and his only job was to keep track of funds was it not?