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LOGAN — A former Utah State University professor was sentenced Monday to three days in jail, with credit for one day already served, after he confessed to misusing almost $12,000 in university funds.
Terry Allan Messmer, 70, was sentenced in 1st District Court to three days in the Cache County Jail, scheduled to begin 8 a.m. Saturday. He was granted credit for one day served, meaning he will only spend two more days in jail.
Messmer pleaded guilty Sept. 25 to misuse of money, a second-degree felony. In exchange for his plea, two other charges were dismissed: 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 on March 7 after auditors noticed a pattern of fraud in Messmer's reimbursement forms adding up to $11,871.47.
Messmer 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 of this year.
"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 short-term lodgings 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 rental home for his family to stay at, turned in his receipt for it, and used white-out on 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 at the university on 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.
