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LOGAN — A former Utah State University professor pleaded guilty Monday to misuse of money, a second-degree felony, after police say he fraudulently filled out USU reimbursement forms for almost $12,000.
In exchange for his plea, two other charges were dismissed as part of a plea deal: communications fraud, a second-degree felony, and falsifying/altering government records, a class B misdemeanor.
USU's Internal Audit Services alerted USU police and the Cache County Sheriff's Office March 7 after it reported noticing a pattern of fraud in Terry Allan Messmer's reimbursement forms adding up to $11,871.47.
Messmer, 70, oversaw vehicles used for business travel as part of his duties at the university. The auditing office said it discovered at least 24 trips taken by Messmer where he used a USU vehicle but reported he had used a personal vehicle in order to get reimbursements, according to a police booking affidavit. The affidavit states these trips totaled $10,451.02 between May 7, 2018 and Jan. 5.
"Upon interviewing Terry about this, he admitted to filling out the forms claiming the personal vehicle mileage, knowing that he did not drive his personal vehicle," the affidavit states. "When asked why he did it he stated that he did not know, but acknowledged that it was wrong."
Ten more incidents were also found where Messmer incorrectly filled out per diem requests for reimbursement for his business-related travels, adding up to $1,420.45 between Feb. 4, 2019, and Jan. 20, according to the affidavit.
Police said there were "several occasions" when Messmer stayed for extra days leading up to or following an event, with no business purpose, and he booked Airbnbs using university funds for personal use and family trips.
In October 2022 he went to Centennial, Colorado, for a conference at the same time his daughter was getting married there, according to the affidavit. Police wrote in the affidavit that Messmer booked a multi-bedroom Airbnb for his family to stay at, turned in his receipt for it and whited out parts of the receipt to change the house size and number of guests.
"Upon questioning Terry about this incident, he admitted to altering the Airbnb receipt as well as planning this USU trip to go along with his daughter's wedding," the affidavit states. "He stated that he booked the Airbnb for his family to stay at during the wedding which Utah State University paid for, as well as his travel and per diem."
Messmer resigned from his position May 2.
"USU officials took appropriate action based on our policies, referred the matter for the criminal investigation and cooperated in the process," USU said in a statement to KSL.
Messmer's sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 6 in Logan's 1st District Court.
