Have You Been Following The Embezzlement Scandal At The ‘Eugene Weekly’

“Eugene Weekly” editor Camilla Mortensen in her office. Credit: Brooke Tache

If we tracked watercooler topics here in the Source newsroom, the story of the “Eugene Weekly” embezzlement would certainly be topping the chart.

A certain reporter — when informed by an editor that the “Eugene Weekly” bookkeeper accused of embezzling more than $100,000 (closer to $300,000, considering unpaid debts) was released from an Ohio jail on May 11 because Governor Tina Kotek’s Office declined to cover extradition costs — yelped “WHAT?” and reflexively jolted from his desk.

(Yes, that was me.)

After public outcry, the governor’s office reversed its decision on May 28. It will, after all, cover the fees to bring the bookkeeper, Elisha Young, 38, to justice in Oregon. Yet, out of jail and back on the lam, Young’s present whereabouts aren’t known. A federal arrest warrant will have to be reissued.

The “Eugene Weekly,” along with “The Oregonian” and national outlets like “The New York Times,” have chronicled the ever-surprising developments of the embezzlement that occurred between July 2021 and December 2023. The “Eugene Weekly” broke the news in December 2023 (“Where’s the Damn Paper?”) and has subsequently covered developments: “Former Eugene Weekly Business Manager Charged in Newspaper’s Embezzlement”; “Extradition Denied”; and “Extradition On,” published on May 28.

We spoke on the phone with “Eugene Weekly” Editor Camilla Mortensen to understand the experience of reporting on a crime saga when you’re right in the middle of it.

(This interview has been condensed for length and clarity.)

The Source: What’s the latest?

CM: We haven’t gotten any calls that she’s been arrested again. I keep checking with the jail [where Young had been lodged after being picked up on a federal arrest warrant]. To the best of my knowledge, the authorities have to reissue the nationwide warrant and then pick her up again.

TS: In following this story, I’m learning the finer details of how extraditions work. Something eye-opening to me is that the Lane County DA’s office had to appeal to the governor’s office to pay for the extradition. What precedent would have been set if Gov. Kotek’s Office had stuck with its decision not to cover the cost?

CM: Well, that was a big fear at the DA’s office that it would set this precedent that local municipalities would have to pay. Lane County has not historically had an extradition fund, and the DA told me that he thought an extradition would cost between $3,000 and $6,000. On the surface, it isn’t very much money, but then if you start racking them up, then it is.

TS: On a personal level — what’s it like being in the middle of all this?

CM: It is not what you sign up for when you become an editor of a newspaper [laughs].

But one thing that has been really heartening is, whenever there’s been a twist or turn, is the number of people that have called the governor’s office, that have called the district attorney’s office. People offered to fundraise. They called my office and sent notes. Newspapers matter to so many people. I think that is the silver lining.

TS: Do you know of any instance where the public raised funds to extradite someone?

CM: Not that I know of. People would tell me to start a GoFundMe campaign, but I’m a newspaper. I can’t fund law enforcement. I report on law enforcement. But I was like, “If you guys wanna make that arrangement with the DA yourself…”

TS: I’m surprised people weren’t just walking in the “Eugene Weekly,” like: “I’ll go get her right now!”

CM: We got a lot of that, too. I was like, I don’t think we have bounty hunters in Oregon.

TS: As an editor and reporter, do you have like a sense of ownership of this story? I mean, you’re talking to me now, so you must not be too exclusive…

CM: No. When the embezzlement happened, so many community members and news sources jumped in to get the word out. We’ve really felt like it’s something that we have to embrace. Everybody should get this information. I really don’t feel like I need to have the exclusive on it. You know, I’m both writing the news and being the news so…

TS: How weird would it be if you and the “Eugene Weekly” won awards for the coverage of the embezzlement? Would that be bittersweet, or would you feel vindicated?

CM: That’s an excellent question. That would be interesting. I am up for an award for a story I wrote about getting stalked, so it wouldn’t be out of the question!

There’s been a couple times that other journalists have gotten information, like Noelle Crombie at “The Oregonian.” She uncovered that the Kotek’s office declined the extradition of someone who had burglarized and targeted the Asian American community here in Eugene. I guess I’m learning my own story from other people’s reporting.

TS: Since the embezzlement and the subsequent public fundraising to bring the “Eugene Weekly” back, has your understanding changed regarding an alt-weekly’s place in a community?

CM: I think there’s a perception that only a certain segment of the population reads [an alt-weekly]. I think we could very much see from the response from folks — both to this recent twist and turn [regarding the extradition flip flop] and to also the embezzlement — that people across the political spectrum and age groups like to pick up their weekly paper. They didn’t want it to go away.

TS: So the embezzlement resulted in two firings — Young, the bookkeeper, and her husband, who was also an employee. What was his role?

CM: He was a sales rep.

TS: I noticed his name hasn’t been published in any of the Eugene Weekly’s reporting.

CM: I don’t know that he’s risen to the level of including his name — it hasn’t been mentioned in court. I don’t know that he had any knowledge or involvement with the embezzlement. The only time we mentioned him that I can remember was in the longer story about what happened. And, at that point, we weren’t mentioning [Young’s] name either because she had not been indicted or charged.

TS: [The “Eugene Weekly” reported that Young’s husband told Mortensen that Young had experienced a drug relapse, spending embezzled money on a cocaine and pill addiction] If you cohabitate and share finances with someone who has relapsed and developed a big drug problem, how easy or hard do you think it is to notice?

CM: I guess I could criticize him better if it wasn’t for the fact that [Young’s] office was right next door to mine. I thought she was a friend and didn’t realize that she had a coke problem or that she would ever be the sort of person who would hurt the newspaper and take money from it. So I guess on that level I can sympathize with him.

TS: I’ve read that the “Eugene Weekly” now has certain accounting safeguards. When it comes to hiring editorially, has anything changed? Are you doing criminal background searches?

CM: No, because I actually have some fantastic reporters who have criminal records. Obviously, we’re not gonna hire anyone to do financials who has any financial [criminal] history; we have outside accountants now. But the background check wouldn’t have turned anything up on [Young] when we hired her. We as a paper are really big on redemption. I had an employee who had a heroin problem. He left and got clean. And we hired him back because he was a great employee.

TS: Yeah, I mean if hiring editors didn’t think like you, [late “New York Times” media critic and author] David Carr never would have had his career.

The Source Editor in Chief Nicole Vulcan is writing a book. I wondered if you might think that all this drama might be material for a book of your own?

CM: I feel like this is almost a made-for-TV movie. It’s been so dramatic. I have definitely thought about that. [In the EW’s coverage] I can’t fit all the odd details and the ongoing twist and turns. Right when I think everything is normal, I’m like, ‘No, it’s not normal because now they have to arrest her again.’ Then the case will go to court or she’s going to plea bargain. As soon as I feel relief, I’m like — this isn’t done yet.

TS: What’s a plot twist that’s really surprised you in reporting this embezzlement? And what’s something you’ve learned?

CM: What I never saw coming was the governor turning down the extradition. What else did I not see coming? I do know there’s a sum of the [stolen] money we could never prove. We get a lot of cannabis advertising that comes in as cash. We can say that money is gone, but we can’t prove it beyond a reasonable doubt. And one thing I didn’t know is that, as a business, you don’t just have to prove that the money was taken; you have to prove the person wasn’t supposed to take it. I was like, well, she wasn’t supposed to give herself a raise. We had to go back and show how raises and reimbursement work [at the EW]. Luckily, we did have that in place; a lot of small businesses don’t. That’s one of the things that I’m finding more and more when I talk to people: a lot of small businesses get embezzled and they go under because they can’t withstand the amount that was taken. It cost us $30,000 to do the forensic accounting to prove [the embezzlement]. That’s a lot of money. A part of the reason we decided to spend it was because the community rose up to save us and we had to show what happened. But a lot of businesses can’t pay for that, and they can’t prosecute the embezzlement.

TS: That’s so interesting. And a bummer.

CM: I’ve learned so much about embezzlement. I had read that one way to make sure that you don’t get embezzled is make your bookkeeper take a vacation for two weeks and have someone else do the books. And I’m like, ‘Duh,’ but I’m also a workaholic. I always bring my work with me on vacation, so I never questioned that she took her work with her.

TS: When you think about your own career, do you feel like this [embezzlement] might be a scarlet letter on your résumé? Or, will it read like you were the brave ship captain who weathered a massive storm and returned to safe harbor?

CM: My copy editor bought me a t-shirt for my birthday that says: I run a tight shipwreck. [Laughter.] When all this happened, I was a little bit horrified: Is getting embezzled gonna be on my gravestone? One really gratifying part is that all the journalists I talked to understand that editors aren’t publishers. We don’t handle the finances; we handle the content.

I also really hope that because we were so honest about it and came forward about it that other businesses will be less afraid of saying it happened to them, too. I didn’t want to publicize the embezzlement because I was afraid people wouldn’t trust us, they wouldn’t donate to my nonprofit.

Like a lot of small businesses, you trust each other. I think the most painful part is being like, ‘Wow, we put a lot of trust into someone who really said how much she loved the paper.’ Addiction does horrible things.

TS: Do you wonder what redemption might look like for Elisha?

CM: Well, her husband said she has a coke problem; I sincerely hope she’s got that under control. Addiction is a struggle for life. The financial crime investigation detective said she can be ordered to pay restitution. I said I don’t think she’s got very much money. He said yeah but $100 a month is $100 that the paper didn’t have. So I sincerely hope that there is a way that she can first of all turn her own life around. It can’t feel good to have hurt the paper and the community.