COUNTYWIDE : Embattled Trustee Ely Says Mileage Offset Card Charges

Accused embezzler James T. (Tom) Ely testified under cross-examination Wednesday that he had used his community college district credit card to purchase personal items while traveling but insisted that he reimbursed the district for the expenditures.

Ely, a Ventura County Community College District trustee, said he had used his district American Express to purchase $295 worth of sweaters while on a trip to Canada in 1989. And, he said, he and his wife charged nearly $300 for sweat suits, toiletries and a travel bag while they were stranded in Denver because of a snowstorm in the same year.

In his third day of testimony, Ely said, as he has before, that the purchases were paid back through money the district owed him for mileage.

The trustee and his wife, Ingrid, are accused of bilking the district out of more than $15,000 by padding travel expenses, spending public money on personal items and inflating mileage reports.

Tom Ely is charged with 29 counts of conspiracy, embezzlement and fraud. Ingrid Ely is charged with one count each of conspiracy, grand theft and embezzlement.

Tom Ely also said he erred when he charged the district for several meals and taxi rides the day after he came home from attending a conference with his wife and other district officials in Monterey.

“I said I made a mistake, Miss Nelson,” the trustee told Deputy District Atty. Carol J. Nelson when she inquired about the Monterey expenses.

For much of Wednesday, Nelson and Tom Ely continued to cross words in a courtroom half-filled with spectators.

Occasionally, Tom Ely snapped at Nelson in answering her questions.

At one point, he accused Nelson of lying.

He stepped down from the stand shortly after 3:30 p.m. His attorney, James M. Farley, then called District Chancellor Barbara Derryberry to the stand.

Under Farley’s questioning, Derryberry testified that she had charged a $112 dinner in Canada for her and Ingrid Ely.

The new evidence is an attempt by the defense attorney to support Tom Ely’s assertion that district officials often exceeded spending limits of $22 per person for dinner.

The trial is scheduled to resume Tuesday before Judge Lawrence Storch.

Farley said he plans to rest his case on Tuesday, and the jury is expected begin deliberations Wednesday or Thursday.