Avery-Miller pleads guilty to larceny

By ART BUKOWSKI
abukowski@record-eagle.com

March 29, 2008 04:00 am

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TRAVERSE CITY -- An Elk Rapids woman who vanished from her home in January could pay thousands of dollars in restitution to public agencies that helped search for her, according to a plea agreement.

Anne Avery-Miller, 37, on Thursday pleaded guilty to a charge of larceny by conversion before 13th Circuit Judge Philip E. Rodgers. In exchange for the plea, Antrim County Prosecutor Charles Koop agreed to drop felonious assault and absconding bond charges.

Avery-Millery went missing for about a month beginning Jan. 22, and her plea agreement states she won't contest paying up to $10,000 to agencies that searched for her. The Antrim County Sheriff's Department, Michigan State Police, U.S. Coast Guard and other agencies could receive money if they submit a request for compensation, the deal states.

"The community spent a lot of resources looking for her," Koop said.

Prosecutors charged Avery-Miller with felonious assault last year after she allegedly attempted to hit a man with her car, authorities said, and prosecutors charged her with absconding bond after her disappearance.

Officials continue to investigate the November gunshot death of her son, Sam Avery, 16. Koop said officials still don't know if the wound was self-inflicted.

Koop said Avery-Miller recently told authorities where she was when she vanished. He wouldn't say where Avery-Miller was because officials still must confirm what she told them, he said.

The larceny charge stems from an insurance claim made after a December 2004 fire at Avery-Miller's Elk Rapids hair salon in which three tanning beds leased by Avery-Miller were damaged, Koop said.

The insurance company paid the remainder of the lease on the beds, but she sold two of them to another business and gave one to her mother instead of turning them over to the insurance company, Koop said.

Avery-Miller told Rodgers she gave two beds away and kept one in storage but told the insurance company she threw the beds away.

Rodgers reduced Avery-Miller's bond from $250,000 to a personal recognizance bond at her attorney's request. She has been in jail since turning herself in Feb. 25, and sentencing is set for May.

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