County Attorney Needs More Time to Make Charging Decision in Lumberjack Days Case

The needs more time to make a charging decision following a felony  organizer Dave Eckberg.

“We need a bit more time to go over our evidence and look for other bank accounts, if any,” Washington County Attorney Pete Orput said Wednesday afternoon. “I anticipate needing more time to thoroughly review the case as we continue working with our sheriff’s office.”

Orput has asked the sheriff’s office to conduct some additional investigation into the financial records of Eckberg and the Lumberjack Days Festival Association.

“We are diligently pursuing the case,” Orput said, “and are waiting for a few follow-up requests we had put in.”

Last month, Orput told Stillwater Patch the county attorney’s office has not been asked to consider anyone else for prosecution.

"We are really doing a thorough job on this, because we really want to do this right," Orput told the Pioneer Press on Wednesday. "It's in everybody's interest that we do it right. If there is evidence of a criminal act, then we'd like to find it. If there's not, then there's not."

The county attorney’s office is reviewing allegations of fraud and felony theft after of worthless checks .

Two beer distributors, the Stillwater hockey booster club, Icabod Productions and  have against Eckberg, the Lumberjack Days Festival Association and St. Croix Events.

The case was eventually turned over to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office for investigation.

Eckberg has repeatedly said he doesn’t dispute the debt and is working to get the bills paid.

"We remain fully cooperative and want them to be completely thorough," Eckberg told the Pioneer Press. "I had one brief conversation with the investigator last Thursday with promises of more conversations to come."

According to , they owe 100-plus creditors more than $1.4 million, in addition to $45,000 in state and federal taxes.

Eckberg has said the bankruptcy filing is personal and does not affect any claims anyone may have against Lumberjack Days or St. Croix Events.

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