The Jefferson County Grand Jury returned indictments against two former officials at Eastern Gateway Community College (EGCC), following allegations that they used college credit cards for purchases not related to the operations of the school, Auditor of State Keith Faber announced.
Jimmie Bruce, former EGCC president, and James Miller, former vice president/chief of staff, both face felony counts of grand theft, theft in office, telecommunications fraud, having an unlawful interest in a public contract, and misuse of credit cards, plus misdemeanor counts of misuse of credit cards and having an unlawful interest in a public contract.
The indictment was filed Wednesday in Jefferson County Common Pleas Court. Bruce and Miller are scheduled to be arraigned on Aug. 23.
The alleged inappropriate expenditures came to light during a routine audit of the college’s financial activities for fiscal years 2018 and 2019.
An investigation by the Auditor of State’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU) ultimately identified 205 credit card transactions totaling more than $28,757 that were not related to the operations of the college.
Bruce and Miller were placed on administrative leave in January 2020 and subsequently fired.
