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(AP) - The Minnesota emergency manager who
stayed on the East Coast after the deadly Interstate 35W bridge
collapse won't face felony charges.

      Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner declined to charge Sonia
Pitt with felony theft by false representation or felony theft by
swindle. Pitt was fired from her $85,000-a-year job as director of
homeland security and emergency management at the Minnesota
Department of Transportation a year ago.


      Pitt waited 10 days before returning after the Aug. 1, 2007,
collapse, which killed 13 and injured 145.


      MnDOT fired her for unprofessional conduct and misuse of state
resources, including unauthorized expenses and travel. A
legislative audit found that Pitt improperly billed the state for
at least $26,000 in pay and unauthorized travel.


      Gaertner said Friday that an investigation of Pitt's time
sheets, cell phone charges, reimbursement requests, mileage and
airfare did not yield proof beyond a reasonable doubt that Pitt
intended to steal taxpayers' money.


      The county's chief prosecutor said state and MnDOT policies were
unclear and sometimes conflicted, and Pitt's supervisors routinely
approved her work hours and expenses. Pitt often worked more than
40 hours a week, making it difficult to prove unauthorized
overtime.


      "A bad employee takes advantage of lax supervision to maximize
benefits of their job, such as travel upgrades, meals paid, things
like that," Gaertner said. "A criminal knows they're not entitled
to those benefits and takes them anyway. We didn't have proof of
the latter."


      Legislative Auditor James Nobles, who referred the case to
Gaertner, said he would consider forwarding it to the St. Paul city
attorney for potential misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor charges.


      The report from Gaertner's office quoted a MnDOT business
manager who said Pitt was the only state employee who upgraded
airline seats, which was allowed at the time. Pitt also signed off
on her own credit card logs and added legs to trips - leading MnDOT
to implement tighter restrictions nicknamed the "Pitt changes."


      But the report also cited Paul Larson, deputy state commissioner
for labor relations, who said Pitt's e-mail and cell phone records
showed she worked seven days a week, sometimes late into the
evening, and she had accrued so much vacation she was in danger of
losing some if she didn't take it.


      Pitt's attorney, John Fabian, did not immediately respond to
phone and e-mail messages.


      Pitt did not immediately return a message left at her home
phone. She told KMSP-TV last week that the bridge collapse "wasn't
my catastrophe" and she worked long hours in Washington after the
disaster.


      After losing her state job, Pitt worked as a transportation
security specialist for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security
from May to July, when she was fired after news reports about her
background.

Gallery

Pitt: Mpls bridge collapse 'wasn't my catastrophe'

Fired MnDOT official fired again

Three MnDOT managers discplined over Pitt case

Audit questions $26,000 in charges tied to ex-MnDOT manager

Politics and Government News

Martiga Lohn

Author

Sonia Pitt, the Minnesota emergency manager who
stayed on the East Coast after the Interstate 35W bridge collapse will face no criminal charges.

No felony charges for fired emergency manager

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