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The 39-year-old intern with the state-paid diamond ring

It turns out that one of those indicted for misusing Georgia Tech credit cards had an under-the-radar activity this spring: She was a 39-year-old intern for the state House of Representatives.

Michelle Harris, a former Tech program coordinator in the school’s College of Management, was indicted this year and charged with using $173,000 in school money for personal expenses, including a diamond ring, laptop computers, digital cameras and making several debt payments.

Marshall Guest, a spokesman for House Speaker Glenn Richardson, confirmed this morning that Harris — under the name of Michelle Dunbar — had obtained the internship through a program offered by Georgia State University.

The internship roughly paralleled the January-to-April session of the Legislature. Guest said he was still researching her assignments, but it appeared that Harris/Dunbar had worked for the House Transportation Committee.

Michelle Harris was indicted in March. That same month, Guest said, Michelle Dunbar took a week off from her internship, citing a family emergency.

The House spokesman said lawmakers didn’t learn that the two were one and the same until May — weeks after the internship ended — when the intern’s mugshot appeared on a TV news report.

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By Ich Ben Ien Berliner

August 21, 2008 12:45 AM | Link to this

“I am a jelly donut” JFK

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