A Latah County Second District Court judge Wednesday sentenced a former University of Idaho employee to 14 days in jail for one count of felony misuse of public funds.
Tim Helmke, the former UI associate director of Alumni Relations, was also sentenced to three years of supervised probation, 100 hours of community service and must pay $2,455 in restitution to the UI. Helmke made more than $2,700 in unauthorized purchases on his UI purchase card between 2019 and 2020, including two purchases for which he submitted false receipts, according to court documents. Latah County Deputy Prosecutor Keith Scholl said the purchases included alcoholic beverages, gift baskets and tickets.
Scholl asked Judge for a sentence of 30 days in jail. The maximum possible sentence for this felony is 14 years in prison.
Helmke’s UI employment ended last year and he also resigned as president of the Moscow Chamber of Commerce board of directors. (Lewiston Tribune)
