STEUBENVILLE, Ohio (WKBN) – Two former Eastern Gateway Community College officials are facing multiple charges, accused of stealing funds from the school.

A Jefferson County grand jury returned charges of grand theft, theft in office, telecommunications fraud, having an unlawful interest in a public contract and misuse of credit cards against James Miller and Jimmie Bruce.

Bruce is the former president of Eastern Gateway Community College, and Miller is the former vice president and chief of staff.

The indictment was filed Wednesday in Jefferson County Common Pleas Court. Bruce and Miller are scheduled to be arraigned on Aug. 23.

According to Auditor of State Keith Faber, the two were found to be using college credit cards for purchases unrelated to school operations. The alleged inappropriate expenditures came to light during a routine audit of the college’s financial activities for fiscal years 2018 and 2019.  

An investigation by the Auditor of State’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU) ultimately identified 205 credit card transactions totaling more than $28,757 that were not related to the operations of the college, according to a news release from the Auditor of State’s Office.

Bruce and Miller were placed on administrative leave in January 2020 and subsequently fired.

Eastern Gateway spokesperson Dennis Willard issued the following statement about the indictments:

“We take these charges against our former president and former chief of staff who left the college in 2019 very seriously, and we will respect the legal process with the understanding that our great judicial system is predicated on the idea that you are presumed innocent until proven guilty,”

“We have a new president, Dr. John Crooks, who officially became the leader of Eastern Gateway on Friday, and we are positioning the community college for the Ohio and Mahoning valleys to continue to put our students first, support our dedicated and talented faculty and staff, and help our enrollees pursue their dream of a higher education degree at the lowest cost possible,”

Dennis Willard, spokesperson for Eastern Gateway Community College