No charges in Eden Prairie expense claim probe

An investigation into city expense claims by Eden Prairie Mayor Phil Young has led to no charges against him.

From November 2007 to February 2010, Young filed many legitimate expense claims, went to at least 45 meetings without asking the city for reimbursement and submitted erroneous claims for 17 meetings he did not attend, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said Monday.

It was sloppy bookkeeping, Freeman said. "Sloppy or inadequate bookkeeping does not constitute theft."

Plymouth Police Chief Michael Goldstein , whose department investigated the matter for Eden Prairie police to avoid a conflict of interest, said he disagrees with Freeman's assessment. He wants the Plymouth city attorney to consider possible gross misdemeanor charges.

"We are going to be submitting it to our city attorney for our review. In our eyes the case is still under investigation," Goldstein said.

Young, an attorney in private practice who is seeking re-election as mayor in the fall, wrote in an e-mail Monday: "A question has been raised. I've cooperated fully. I expect it to be cleared up."

Young's attorney, Shane Perry, said the mayor filled out some paperwork incorrectly and "he accepts responsibility for that."

"This is a guy who works hundreds of extra hours a month on his mayor duties. He is open to meeting with constituents when they call. He goes to special meetings. He goes to special events. His practice was not to ask for nearly as much as he was entitled to and eligible to receive."

The county attorney's office reviewed the evidence to see if there had been theft of public funds, Freeman said.

"We worked hard to be fair and we just have to fundamentally say we can't prove theft beyond a reasonable doubt."

Freeman said Young "candidly acknowledged that the meetings he claimed for reimbursement were just his best recollection and that some of the dates might be incorrect. What he was doing was saying I didn't go to all of these meetings but I went to a lot that I didn't claim so I will just claim for these."