Former UC Davis fire chief and his executive assistant accused of misappropriating public funds
A Yolo County criminal grand jury indicted a former fire chief at the University of California, Davis who is accused of misappropriating public funds before he resigned from his campus job two months ago.
Nathan Jon Trauernicht, 45, pleaded not guilty to the felony charge during his arraignment hearing Monday, the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office announced Thursday in a news release.
Prosecutors also announced they filed a felony charge of misappropriating public money against 34-year-old Meagan Emily McFadden, who worked for Trauernicht as an executive assistant for more than four years before she left her job at UC Davis several months ago.
McFadden, who testified for the grand jury earlier this month, faces an additional charge of perjury. In the filed criminal complaint against McFadden, prosecutors alleged she took an oath to testify truthfully and provided statements she “knew to be false” on Dec. 4.
Her arraignment has been scheduled on Jan. 21 in Yolo Superior Court. The Sacramento Bee on Friday made attempts to reach McFadden by phone and via emails. Her Sacramento-based attorney, Thomas Johnson, responded on her behalf.
“I do not consider press releases from a District Attorney evidence of anything, we will address the actual evidence in court,” Johnson said in an email.
Improper relationship?
Steven Plesser, a Sacramento-based attorney, representing Trauernicht in court said his client is looking forward to clearing his name through the court process and “restore his well-deserved reputation as an honest and dedicated public servant.”
The defense attorney criticized the motivation behind the prosecution’s decision to seek an indictment against Trauernicht.
“Nathan Trauernicht never misappropriated a penny of public money, nor did he knowingly assist Ms. McFadden in doing so,” Plesser said in an emailed statement on Friday. “This indictment is wholly misguided, and appears to be based entirely on speculation of an improper relationship between Mr. Trauernicht and Ms. McFadden that simply did not exist, and of which there is no evidence.”
Yolo Superior Court records show Trauernicht filed for divorce from his wife in May 2022, and his divorce was finalized in December of that year. A Nov. 16 post on a Facebook group page for Sacramento for used wedding items shows McFadden married her husband in a wedding in October.
The filed indictment alleges Trauernicht misappropriated public money from Oct. 16, 2021 through July 22, 2023. The criminal complaint filed against McFadden alleges she misappropriated public money on or about Oct. 16, 2021.
It’s unclear how much money was misappropriated and whether it was used to make any purchases. The indictment and criminal complaint does not provide any additional details on the alleged crimes.
Criminal grand jury
The criminal grand jury issued the indictment against Trauernicht on Dec. 5. That same day, Superior Court Judge Timothy Fall ordered that all evidence presented to the grand jury and a transcript remain sealed until further order of the court, a filed minute order shows. Only the indictment was ordered unsealed by the court when Trauernicht was arraigned on Monday.
The indictment against Trauernicht moves his case straight to trial. Trauernicht can remain free on his own recognizance as long as he is not in a position of authority over public money before the conclusion of his criminal case, according to a minute order.
Trauernicht must return to court Jan. 21 for a hearing to schedule the start of his trial.
The criminal case against McFadden must go through the preliminary hearing, where a judge will determine whether she should stand trial as charged.
The UC Davis Fire Department serves a campus community with more than 40,000 people.
Trauernicht earned a bachelor’s degree in fire protection and safety engineering at Oklahoma State University and later earned a master’s degree in public administration, according to an October 2021 article posted on UCnet, a web site created by the University of California for its employees.
The former fire chief was a prominent user on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter, posting videos and discussing a variety of topics on firefighting including safety training for firefighters. Trauernicht switched to the Bluesky social media site on Nov. 16, he has said, due to upcoming changes to X’s terms of service.
Resigned from UC Davis
UC Davis officials on Friday said Trauernicht began working for the UC Davis Fire Department in April 2008 and resigned Oct. 1 after nearly 13 years as fire chief. McFadden worked as an executive assistant at the fire department from November 18, 2019, through Jan. 30.
“We take seriously any alleged misuse of university funds and are fully cooperating with the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office,” UC Davis officials said in a written statement. “We continuously examine and update our oversight practices to ensure that our resources are used properly and that employees are held accountable for following university procedures and policies. We are performing a comprehensive, third-party review of fire department operations.”
Trauernicht at UC Davis had a base salary of $214,489 in 2022, and his total of pay and benefits that year was $240,663, according to compensation records provided by the state to Transparent California. The following year his base salary was $224,240 and his total of pay and benefits was $241,247.
Transparent California records show McFadden had a base salary of $57,757 in 2022, and her total of pay and benefits that year was $96,316. The following year her base salary was $61,482 and her total of pay and benefits was $88,939.
