Oakland police chief sentenced to probation, 60 days in jail for using gift cards for personal items

LINCOLN, Neb. (Nebraska Examiner) — A small-town police chief who used gift cards purchased by the city to buy nearly $15,000 in personal items will spend 60 days in jail and three years on probation.

Terry Poland, 34, of Fremont, resigned as police chief in Oakland after the purchases were made public. He was sentenced Tuesday by U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael Nelson for misuse of public funds.

The Nebraska Auditor’s Office, in a June 2022 audit, found that Poland had used 27 gift cards purchased with city funds to buy a series of personal items, including ice-fishing equipment, a wake surfboard and a $950 glass basketball backboard.

He had told Oakland officials that he was using the gift cards to buy ammunition for the police department.

Poland, according to the U.S. Attorne’s Office, also provided phony invoices about the purchases — invoices that were not issued by the store, with item numbers and item descriptions that did not match the store’s records.

Poland previously surrendered his state law enforcement license and paid $14,631 in restitution. He also agreed to not to work as a law enforcement officer in the future, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

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