Former Deer Ridge prison official pleads guilty to pay for hours not worked, gets 30-day jail term, must repay $38,000

MADRAS, Ore. (KTVZ) – A former assistant superintendent at Deer Ridge Correctional Institution near Madras has been sentenced to 30 days in jail and two years’ probation and ordered to repay more than $38,000 after pleading guilty to theft and official misconduct for being paid for hours he did not work.

Bend resident Richard Robert “Zack” Ackley, 54, entered amended guilty pleas Wednesday in Jefferson County Circuit Court to first-degree charges of aggravated theft and official misconduct, court records show. A second first-degree aggravated theft charge was dismissed as part of the plea agreement.

The 54-year-old retired at the end of 2022 from a 27-year Department of Corrections career, the last 15 as an assistant superintendent at the Deer Ridge prison. He is scheduled to begin serving his jail time the evening of Friday, April 26.

Ackley admitted in his plea petition to committing “theft of compensation” between March and June of 2022 and receiving “compensation while not performing the duties of my office.” At the time he retired, Ackley was making about $141,000 a year, the Department of Corrections said.

Last fall, Ackley told NewsChannel 21 he would fight the charges, which he said had “destroyed me and my family.”