The mayor of Effie, Minn., was sentenced in a felony theft case last month, but a plea deal agreed to by the Itasca County Attorney’s Office and approved by the presiding judge has kept the case out of public view.
Greta Kay Drewlow, 58, who was first elected mayor of Effie in 2022, was reelected in 2024, and is running for reelection in November, was charged a year ago with two felony counts of theft totaling over $11,000 involving a former employer, all while serving as mayor.
According to the criminal complaint:
Drewlow formerly worked as the store manager for a family-owned grocery market in Bigfork, Minn., and had taken over the position in February 2024.
In February 2025, the owner of the store contacted police about missing amounts of money from the store’s ATM, and said he believed that Drewlow was responsible for stealing money.
The store owner told police that Drewlow was the only person who had access to make deposits from the tills into the machine on behalf of the store.
After being advised by a former employee who was doing accounting work for the store of “odd amounts of money” being put into the ATM, the store manager decided to count the money in the ATM and compare it to bank statements.
The owner had to go to Drewlow to get the ATM password because she was the only person who had it. The owner told police that Drewlow was reluctant to give him the password but eventually did.
The ATM was opened and the money was counted by the owner of the store in front of two witnesses, where $880 was discovered in the ATM. Based upon bank deposits, there should have been $2,600 in the ATM, reflecting a discrepancy of $1,720.
Drewlow was interviewed about the discrepancies while an officer was present and recording. She was advised that there were some discrepancies between the cash amounts reflected as deposited in the ATM and the amounts deposited in the bank between Jan. 7, 2025, and Feb. 6, 2025. Drewlow denied being aware of any such discrepancies.
Drewlow acknowledged that the amounts of cash deposited in the ATM appeared accurate based upon her handwritten notes. Drewlow was then advised that after an accounting of the ATM, it was determined that $1,720 was missing. When asked by the store owner, Drewlow repeatedly denied having anything to do with the missing money.
Toward the end of the conversation with the deputy and the store owner, Drewlow grabbed a notepad and a pen and stated that she wanted to know the total amount of money claimed to be missing as a result of the ATM issues, a questionable cigarette transaction, and a couple other items raised by the store owner.
While Drewlow continued to deny any involvement in any of the financial discrepancies and denied stealing any money, she stated that as the manager, it was her responsibility to ensure the books were right and she would try to pay back the money.
The store owner then advised Drewlow that she was being fired. While the deputy was preparing to escort Drewlow from the building, she counted out $252 and laid it on a table. She told the deputy that the money was for the store owner to pay for the cigarettes.
In March 2025, law enforcement spoke with the former accountant, as well as a party who conducted an audit of the ATM paperwork. Based on discrepancies found, it was determined that, including the missing $1,720, an approximate total of $11,380 in funds documented as being placed in the ATM by Drewlow did not show up as deposited in the market’s bank account dating back to June 2024.
The deputy subsequently executed search warrants to obtain complete records from the bank and also became aware of information indicating that financial struggles may have provided a motive for Drewlow to be stealing money from the market.
Meanwhile, a sergeant informed the deputy that Drewlow had been claiming that thefts were still occurring at the market.
On Aug. 5, 2025, the deputy traveled to Bigfork to attempt to get a follow-up statement from Drewlow. She initially told the deputy that she was hearing rumors from the community and her stepdaughter that “stuff was still going on” at the market even though Drewlow was not working there.
The deputy asked Drewlow what she had heard because nothing had been reported to law enforcement. Drewlow listed off a number of alleged issues, including a “glitch in the computer system” regarding the ATM and lottery tickets at the store, and an unspecified gift card issue.
Drewlow also claimed that other employees had frequently used her manager ID while she was working at the store and stated that she had heard that the market had reduced the number of manager IDs to a select few since then.
She then claimed that while she was working at the market, other people had access to the ATM, though she was unable to specify who exactly. She also claimed that there was a piece of paper with instructions to get into the ATM in an envelope with the keys and the ATM password at the market. These statements contradicted her initial statement on Feb. 7, when she admitted that she was the only person who had access to the ATM password.
After completing his interview with Drewlow, the deputy called the (now former) store owner and obtained a voluntary statement from him stating that the ATM password was not on a piece of paper in an envelope with the keys. He stated that he had to contact Drewlow to get the password to access the ATM to conduct the audit on it back in February. He reiterated that Drewlow was extremely reluctant to give him the password when he called her.
After speaking with the former owner, the deputy drove to the market and spoke with the new owner, who reported that there had been no employee theft issues at the market since Drewlow departed.
The deputy was subsequently notified that Drewlow’s daughter wanted to speak to him. The daughter stated that she had become aware that Drewlow had been communicating with scammers through Facebook around March of 2024 but suspected that it had started before March.
She said she learned her parents were experiencing financial struggles around May or June of 2024. The daughter said Drewlow started going to stores such as Dollar General and obtaining prepaid cards, and would send the scammers the prepaid card numbers. She stated that she had reported the scamming situation to law enforcement but Drewlow had lied to the deputies.
The daughter further indicated that Drewlow had a stroke in February 2024. She reported that while Drewlow was still working at the market and Drewlow and her dad were experiencing financial difficulties, Drewlow was bringing home expensive food, when Drewlow couldn’t even afford to put gas in her car or pay the bills. She also stated that her father had opened a new bank account due to Drewlow taking money and spending it on scammers or other non-essentials.
A check of Minnesota court records shows a number of civil cases filed against Drewlow involving Range Credit Bureau as the complainant, stretching back to 2018 and as recently as a new case filed in July of this year. Each case claims that Drewlow and her husband owe money for various debts, amounting to thousands of dollars.
Drewlow initially pleaded not guilty to the theft charges involving the market but subsequently pleaded guilty to both counts in July. Drewlow was sentenced on Aug. 31 by Gov. Tim Walz-appointed Judge Kimberley Wimmer, who granted Drewlow a stay-of-adjudication on the conviction. That means the case record does not show up in public court records when Drewlow’s name is searched, and if Drewlow successfully completes probation, the case will be dismissed.
Drewlow was placed on probation for five years and was ordered to pay $10,560 in restitution at a minimum monthly amount of $150. Other conditions of probation were ordered, including a prohibition on using or possessing firearms, and a requirement to maintain employment or perform 20 hours of community service each week.
The court record previously indicated that Drewlow was ordered to complete the jail booking procedure after she was charged by summons, but a public data request to the Itasca County Sheriff’s Office for a booking photo was declined, stating there were no responsive records available relative to the request.
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Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.
Crime Watch MN
Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.
