Eugene Weekly’s former bookkeeper, who was arrested for embezzling more than $100,000 from the local paper, was sentenced to three years in prison on two counts of first-degree theft and three counts of first-degree aggravated theft by a judge in Lane County Circuit Court.

Elisha Young, 39, embezzled $138,000 from July 2021 to December 2023 by writing checks to herself, changing her pay without authorization and making over-the-counter withdrawals. All of EW’s employees were laid off in December 2023 because of the financial losses caused by Young’s actions.

After the judge read the counts of theft, Camilla Mortensen, the current editor of EW, stood before the courtroom to offer victim testimony.

“Embezzlement, by its nature, is an unthinkable crime to its victims. After all, they trust someone they believed would never betray them. It wasn’t unthinkable to you,” Mortensen said. “You knew that your actions were basically destroying the newspaper that employed you.”

At one point, Young reportedly secretly gave herself a $30,000 raise amid pay cuts for most other publication employees.  Young furthermore cancelled the company’s insurance, stopped paying bills, did not pay the paper’s printer and stopped paying on loans.

“You left the newspaper bleeding with debt. The newspaper is still rebuilding the trust you sought to destroy, still dealing with the aftermath of what you did.”

Mortensen then shared the story of an employee who had been laid off shortly before Christmas 2023.

“One day our copy editor had a job. The next he was accepting a food box at his church,” Mortensen said.

Young fled to Ohio and was extradited in 2025 by Gov. Tina Kotek after the extradition was initially denied.

Young’s court-appointed lawyer, Brian Walker, said Young was sorry for her actions and detailed what he claimed was the root of her addiction. Walker said Young did not receive psychological support after a surgery, which he said caused a drug addiction to “spiral out of control.”

Walker had initially asked the judge to delay sentencing because of custody concerns involving Young’s child, which the judge denied.

The courtroom was packed with Mortensen’s journalism students, Eugene Weekly staff and community members, who celebrated with Mortensen in the hallway after the sentencing.

Mortensen and the Weekly are next expected to pursue a civil case against Young in an effort to recoup some of the stolen funds.