Former Executive Director of Calhoun Conservation District Convicted for Embezzling Federal Funds

The OIG investigated an allegation that Tracy Bronson, the former Executive Director of Calhoun Conservation District (CCD) in Marshall, MI, stole U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grant funds from the CCD. We conducted this investigation jointly with the EPA OIG and the Michigan State Police. We determined that between 2014 and 2017, Bronson embezzled over $550,000 from the CCD’s credit union account, which included grant funds awarded to the CCD by the FWS and the EPA. We found that between 2014 and 2017, the FWS awarded the CCD approximately $331,651 in grant funds. Bronson resigned from her position with the CCD and pleaded guilty to one count of theft concerning programs receiving Federal funds in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan. She was sentenced to 37 months in prison and ordered to pay $573,159.20 in restitution.