Former nursery worker arrested on fraud charges after $4.4 million taken

Jeanna Buxton

A former employee at McMinnville's Oregon Pride Nursery embezzled about $4.4 million from the business from 2013 to 2019, according to a Yamhill County Grand Jury indictment charging Jeanna Lee Buxton, 61, with 21 counts of aggravated first-degree theft.

Capt. Chris Ray of the Yamhill County Sheriff's Office said he couldn't recall a larger fraud case during his lengthy time with the agency.

The sheriff's office Criminal Response Team contacted her at her residence in the Eastern Oregon community of La Pine Monday, July 20, and took her into custody on a warrant. She has been returned to Yamhill County and is lodged on $200,000 bail.

Oregon Pride, a wholesale operation located at 5380 S.E. Booth Bend Road, filed a criminal report with the sheriff's office last February involving suspected fraud. The business had located suspicious transactions and performed an extensive audit of their books.

Working with an accounting firm and sheriff's Detective Jacob Herr, discrepancies in the books were identified and Buxton was identified as a suspect.

The case, which was also worked by the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office, was presented to the grand jury which filed the Class B felony charges.

It's unknown when Buxton will be arraigned on the indictment.