On March 26th, following a police investigation, Amber Lopota was charged with embezzlement. She is accused of stealing over &1,000 from the student government of Northern Michigan University, where she was the elected student president.
Lopota, a 34 year old from Port Huron, was elected in April 2013 and served through the 2013 – 14 academic year. After the charges were filed, Lopota chose to withdraw from the university instead of facing a hearing before the student conduct board. She is charged with felony embezzlement, agent or trustee, of between $1,000 and $20,000, and a misdemeanor count of embezzlement, agent or trustee, of less than $200
Lopota waived the preliminary examination
Lopota waived the preliminary examination for the felony embezzlement charges in district court, so the case was bound over to circuit court. She is scheduled to appear on May 9th for arraignment in the Marquette County Circuit Court. She is also scheduled to stand trial on June 3rd in the Marquette District Court on the misdemeanor embezzlement charges.
Police say that the investigation is still on-going, and as a result, information available to the public is currently limited. Lopota’s lawyer, Karl Numinen, stated that “Things aren’t always what they seem at first, and I expect that as this process unfolds, the full truth will be revealed.”
Because it is a felony, a Michigan embezzlement charge where the amount stolen is more than $1,000 and less than $20,000 the penalty can be up to five years in prison, up to $10,000 in fines, and sometimes both. In misdemeanor embezzlement charges where the stolen money has a value of less than $200.00, the punishment can be up to 93 days of imprisonment, a fine of not more than $500.00, and sometimes both.