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Home | Local + Metro | East Metro | The I-35W bridge collapse

State, county officials discuss case of Sonia Pitt

Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner and staff met with the legislative auditor and his deputy about the fired MnDOT official.

By PAT PHEIFER, Star Tribune

Last update: May 16, 2008 - 11:05 AM

Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner and members of her staff met Friday with legislative auditors as part of their review to determine whether Sonia Morphew Pitt, former state Transportation Department emergency management director, committed any criminal acts when she obtained public money for unauthorized travel and expenses.

Pitt first came to public attention when it was learned she had stayed in Washington, D.C., in the days after the Interstate 35W bridge collapse.

A Nov. 28 report by the legislative auditor's office said Pitt was a "belligerent, aggressive" employee who received thousands of dollars in excessive compensation from the Transportation Department for hotels, airfare, mileage, unauthorized overtime and personal cell phone calls.

The audit found Pitt received $26,000 she was not due, and it asked state and local officials to go to court to recover the money and possibly bring criminal charges.

No conclusions were reached on charges in Friday's meeting. "That wasn't the purpose of the meeting," Gaertner said.

"We talked to [Legislative Auditor James Nobles and Deputy Legislative Auditor Cecile Ferkul] about their investigation, got some background on how they got involved, why they got involved, what were the general parameters," she said.

The next step, Gaertner said, will be to review papers that the legislative auditor's office prepared and "any and all documents related to the employee's conduct and the investigation."

While there is no time frame to bring charges, "any time we have public dollars at issue allegedly being misspent by a public official, we try to act as quickly as possible."

Pitt was fired from MnDOT on Nov. 9 after an internal investigation but she has filed an appeal to get her job back.

Pat Pheifer • 651-298-1551

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