Erinn Miller, a Lake Tahoe resident and member of the Douglas County School District Board of Trustees, received a court-appointed attorney on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, as she made her second appearance in Tahoe Justice Court. She was arrested on Sept. 8, 2026, on charges of embezzling over $125,000 from Zephyr Cove Elementary and Whittell High schools.
Further review of court documents also shows alleged embezzlement crimes were committed in South Lake Tahoe, across the state line.
Judge Richard Glasson said he reviewed her current financial situation before making the decision. Patrick Ferguson will be her attorney after being assigned Tuesday afternoon.
During court, Miller, 46, asked for her ankle monitor to be removed as it caused numbness in her foot, and Glasson granted that request once she had an attorney. According to court documents, she has surrendered her passport.
Miller posted bail on Sept. 8 in the amount of $3,750 in cash.
Miller’s alleged crimes do not stop at the state line, however.
Upon South Tahoe Now’s review of her file at Tahoe Justice Court (Nevada), there is a large South Lake Tahoe (California) case that could reach close to $380,000.
Part of the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office (DCSO) investigation included work by the South Lake Tahoe Police Department (SLTPD). That portion of the court record states that SLTPD received information from a local California-side business about a potential forgery and grand theft case against Erinn Miller. Through her business, Crystal Cove Bookkeeping (a Nevada business), Miller had several South Lake Tahoe groups and businesses as her clients.
According to the Nevada court documents, SLTPD started an investigation on Nov. 1, 2025, due to a South Lake Tahoe medical group alerting them of the suspected forgery and grand theft. The court documents state Miller’s bookkeeping business had been hired by the group for payroll and bookkeeping services in January 2022, and allege she created or forged eight checks without their permission for $332,000 between April 1, 2025, and November 1, 2025.
During the investigation, SLTPD also reached out to a local youth sports organization where Erinn Miller was treasurer. They uncovered an alleged embezzlement of $48,000 between April and November of 2025, though she had access to funds until December of that year.
On both sides of the state line, court documents show investigators say Miller used her position of trust to have access to numerous bank accounts. The DCSO investigation includes numerous subpoenas to Apple, Amazon, Premier Bank, US Bank, as well as a long list of payments made with alleged school funds to numerous businesses. Some of those purchases include ammunition, animal care, furniture, a cruise, and vehicle repair.
Miller served as Zephyr Cove Elementary Booster treasurer from July 2020 to July 2025, though the DCSO investigation says she had access to funds until October 2025, court records show. She was the Whittell High School Booster treasurer from July 1, 2020, to November 2025. Current club board members said Miller was voted out due to a “lack of transparency.”
The El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office received the Miller case from SLTPD in March 2026. We reached out to the office in Placerville, which did confirm the case was in their office, but that no other information was available at this time.
There have been no charges filed and no arrest in California.
