About Erik Moeller
Oregon public defense attorney mentioned repeatedly in wife’s federal sentencing memorandum… and not in a good way.
Yesterday, the government filed its sentencing memorandum in the federal criminal case brought against former Albany, Oregon attorney, Megan Moeller (fka Perry). The sentencing hearing for her guilty plea is currently scheduled for August 9th.
The memorandum is notable for many things — particularly that it confirms that Megan victimized several individuals not identified in the criminal case, particularly people who knew to complain to her licensor, the Oregon State Bar.
However, another detail stands out: that her husband and former law-partner, Erik J.D. Moeller, was certainly involved in the underlying family matter at the center of the fed’s criminal case against his wife. Worse, Erik was at the time, and still is, a public defense attorney with a lucrative, state-paid contract.¹
Briefly, Megan was hired by the Stewart family to modify child support and visitation rights. Instead, Megan took their money and did nothing. The Stewarts began to get antsy and demanded to see proof that Megan had served their opponent.
Megan then claimed that “her ‘managing partner’ would not allow it because the case was still pending” — a truly preposterous excuse. “[Mr. Stewart] later learned that [Megan’s] ‘managing partner’ was her husband,” Erik.
Megan also “falsely claimed that she could not provide the documents based on advice from the Oregon State Bar and Professional Liability Fund.”
The Stewarts continued to press about the lack of progress in the case, and finally “went to [Megan’s] office to demand the documentation showing that [the opponent] had been served.” To shut them up, Megan created two fraudulent documents with three forged signatures. It worked for a while.
During that time, Megan repeatedly derided the opponent as “crazy” for persistently asserting that she had not been served — which is to say that Megan defrauded and injured clients and opponents alike, not to mention the courts.
Things went on like that for a while, and the Stewarts patiently awaited “word from [Megan] about the outcome of the parenting time agreement pertaining to their daughter. That word never came from [Megan].”
Instead, Megan’s “law partner/husband called [Mr. Stewart] and tried to goad [him] into firing [the firm].” It appears that Erik didn’t even tell the Stewart’s during that call that their case had long-before been dismissed for inaction.
Remarkably, their licensor, the Oregon State Bar, failed to discipline Erik for his part in the Stewart’s case; nor did Erik get in any trouble after the Bar received a warning that he and Megan were destroying documents related to her legal services. Several clients have reported that they have been unable to retrieve their complete client files from Erik, who was named on Megan’s resignation paperwork as the custodian of her files.
Most problematically, Erik continues to defend indigent clients in Linn County Circuit Court — the very court where his wife forged orders and wrecked families and tricked judges, in so many family law cases. It is hard to imagine that his indigent clients, who are constitutionally guaranteed effective representation, are receiving unprejudiced treatment in that court, due to Megan’s notoriety there.
¹ Erik Moeller is paid state tax dollars as a contractor with Oregon’s beleaguered Office of Public Defense Services. Just grab a mop, right?
