Ex-UC Davis Fire Department executive assistant convicted in embezzlement case
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Meagan Emily McFadden was convicted in a UC Davis embezzlement case.
- McFadden worked at the campus Fire Department for more than four years.
- She admitted to receiving unearned overtime pay with the fire chief’s alleged approval.
A former executive assistant at the UC Davis Fire Department was convicted in an embezzlement case for fraudulently receiving more than $40,000 in unearned overtime pay with the alleged approval of the fire chief who still faces criminal charges.
On Thursday morning, Meagan Emily McFadden pleaded no contest to a felony charge of misappropriating public money. She worked for Nathan Trauernicht at the UC Davis Fire Department for more than four years, before she left her campus job in January 2024.
Trauernicht, the former fire chief, allegedly approved numerous fraudulent paychecks for his female assistant. In December 2024, a Yolo County criminal grand jury indicted Trauernicht on a charge of misappropriating public funds while working for the University of California, Davis. He resigned from his campus job two months before he was indicted. He has pleaded not guilty to that charge.
In November, Yolo Superior Court Judge Paul Richardson rejected Trauernicht’s request to suspend his case and admit him into a mental health diversion program. Had the judge granted the request, Trauernicht’s felony charge would’ve been dismissed after his successful completion of the diversion program.
As part of McFadden’s plea deal with prosecutors, a felony charge of embezzlement by a clerk or agent against her was dismissed, along with an enhancement that alleged aggravating circumstances.
The Yolo County District Attorney’s Office had also charged McFadden, 35, with perjury. In the criminal complaint filed against McFadden, prosecutors alleged she took an oath to testify truthfully for the grand jury and provided statements she “knew to be false.” Prosecutors dropped the perjury charge as part of the plea deal with McFadden.
Thomas Johnson, McFadden’s attorney, asked the judge to schedule a sentencing for his client at a later date. Johnson said McFadden and her family are still gathering the remaining money for restitution, about $40,000, she will have to pay as part of her conviction.
Richardson has said in court that the evidence presented showed that Trauernicht on about 20 different occasions approved timesheets that included a total of $42,000 in unearned overtime pay for McFadden. Richardson said the prosecution alleges that Trauernicht had “perhaps an inappropriate interest” in his subordinate female employee.
The judge on Thursday scheduled McFadden to return to court Feb. 19 for her sentencing hearing.
UC Davis fire chief resigned in 2024
Trauernicht, 46, was the UC Davis fire chief for nearly 13 years before he resigned eight months after McFadden left the Fire Department.
At an October hearing, Deputy District Attorney Frits Van der Hoek told the judge that Trauernicht displayed “creepy behavior” in the workplace and approved numerous fraudulent paychecks for McFadden, an employee with whom he was seeking a romantic relationship.
The prosecutor argued Trauernicht, when he failed to form a romantic relationship with McFadden, formed a romantic relationship with another female subordinate. Van der Hoek said that relationship was ultimately exposed, and a search of his phone revealed Trauernicht’s sexual behavior with the other female employee at the fire station.
Steven Plesser, Trauernicht’s attorney, has argued that the prosecutor was presenting his theory of a perceived motive behind the alleged embezzlement, which is largely based on testimony from McFadden, even though she was accused of perjury.
The defense attorney told the judge in October that his client has no previous criminal history and has led a life of community service. Plesser said Trauernicht suffered from multiple diagnosed disorders that contributed to the alleged offense, including post-traumatic stress disorder that went “largely unrecognized and untreated” until 2024.
The prosecutor argued that Trauernicht, who received outstanding performance evaluations at work, is claiming to suffer from PTSD and anxiety disorder that caused him to have a lapse in his duties while on the job.
Van der Hoek told the judge that Trauernicht did not have a momentary distraction; he approved numerous fraudulent timesheets for McFadden. The prosecutor said there’s evidence of Trauernicht’s “creepy behavior” toward McFadden in text messages she sent to her friends describing his behavior.
Assistant’s UC Davis paychecks
McFadden, who had a 40-hour work week as one of Trauernicht’s two assistants, submitted timesheets that would typically claim she worked 20 hours on Thursday of the first week in the pay period and 20 hours on Tuesday of the second week, the judge has said. Every other day on McFadden’s timesheet only claimed she worked eight hours.
Richardson said the prosecution also alleges that Trauernicht also told McFadden during a dinner that he thought she deserved more pay and later approached UC Davis administration about the possibility of her getting a higher-level job on campus.
UC Davis officials have said Trauernicht began working for the UC Davis Fire Department in April 2008 and resigned Oct. 1, 2024. McFadden worked as an executive assistant at the department from Nov. 18, 2019, through Jan. 30, 2024.
The UC Davis Fire Department serves a campus community with more than 40,000 people.
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.
The judge’s decision to deny Trauernicht’s request means his criminal case moves toward scheduling his trial. The grand jury indictment means the former fire chief’s criminal case skips the preliminary hearing phase and moves directly to trial.
At a hearing on Monday, Richardson scheduled Trauernicht’s case to return to court March 5 to determine when they can schedule a trial for the former fire chief.
