What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? WA
About a year and a half ago, my sister-in-law was caught embezzling money from a charity for which she volunteered as treasurer. At the time, the board of directors decided that a police report would be filed, but that they would be agreeable to settling the matter out of court if she cooperated and agreed to several conditions. At the time, she had been a well-educated, well-liked member of the organization, but developed a prescription drug addiction as an unhealthy means of coping with the death of her and my brother's youngest daughter. She was able to hide this drug problem from all of us for some time, because she was misusing charity funds so that my brother wouldn't become suspicious of the amount of money she spent on pills (or so we think). This has been an embarrassment to our entire family. It seems so unlike her.
The organization had been extremely lax about auditing financial records, so her crime went undetected for quite some time. It has also been difficult to determine the exact amount she stole--for example, it was her responsibility to make bulk purchases at places such as Walmart for a variety of items that were distributed to the homeless, such as blankets toiletries, etc. So it appears as if she was also paying to have prescriptions filled under the same bill, or would use the company debit card for a transaction and request cash back. Since she discarded the types of receipts that could be used as evidence against her, it has been extremely difficult for the financial investigator to determine the exact amount taken. Further complicating matters, she would try to "pay back" the organization with frequent "personal donations". Overall, the amount missing was anywhere between $7,000 and $14,000. They also asked that she reimburse them for the cost of the investigation and their attorney's fees, which could be in the neighborhood of another 5-15k.
The charity organization asked her to attend inpatient drug rehab and intensive counseling for a year, which she agreed to do and has since completed. During that year, she and my brother also divorced. She has regained her emotional stability and has expressed a great deal of remorse, guilt, and shame. She genuinely seems to want to make this right. She was just hired to work full-time again in her field, and has expressed relief to have found a job that will enable her to make sizable restitution payments. She now has primary custody of their older daughter who is 9, and my brother moved several hours away and has their daughter every other weekend. I babysit the girl (my niece) after school while my sister-in-law works until 5pm, so I am quite close to the situation and feel very emotionally invested. My sister-in-law has met with the investigator and the board of directors several times to work towards a restitution plan. Last month, she told us that they would be getting back to her with the exact payment plan within 90 days, this had been determined in a meeting that involved organization's attorney, 4 board members, the private investigator, and my sister-in-law. At that meeting, they also said they'd be requesting that she make a formal apology to the organization, its donors, and recipients.
Well yesterday, she received a call on her cell while she was picking up her daughter at my house. It was a detective from the police department, saying that the organization had a sudden change of heart and decided to press criminal charges. The detective apparently stated that he needed to take her statement, and was meeting with the prosecutor who would be taking the case today. We are all a bit flabbergasted. None of us can afford to help her with an attorney, but she was told that one would be appointed for her. One hasn't been assigned yet as far as I know, so our family is in limbo.
No one in our family has ever faced criminal charges, and we are pretty unfamiliar with the court process in general. Can anyone tell me what we should expect as far as a trial goes, the length of time between a prosecutor "taking the case" and the time a trial would start, and what charges and sentencing might be like? We are all pretty shocked at this development, and we are most worried that she will one again be removed from her daughter's life in order to complete a jail sentence, and that custody will revert to my brother, uprooting my niece from her school and home to move across the state. Are we just freaking out, or is this the likely scenario? In cases like these, does it ever happen that the defendant is simply put on probation and ordered to pay restitution, or is jail-time mandatory? She plans to plead guilty unless her attorney strongly advises otherwise. Someone knowledgable, please help!
About a year and a half ago, my sister-in-law was caught embezzling money from a charity for which she volunteered as treasurer. At the time, the board of directors decided that a police report would be filed, but that they would be agreeable to settling the matter out of court if she cooperated and agreed to several conditions. At the time, she had been a well-educated, well-liked member of the organization, but developed a prescription drug addiction as an unhealthy means of coping with the death of her and my brother's youngest daughter. She was able to hide this drug problem from all of us for some time, because she was misusing charity funds so that my brother wouldn't become suspicious of the amount of money she spent on pills (or so we think). This has been an embarrassment to our entire family. It seems so unlike her.
The organization had been extremely lax about auditing financial records, so her crime went undetected for quite some time. It has also been difficult to determine the exact amount she stole--for example, it was her responsibility to make bulk purchases at places such as Walmart for a variety of items that were distributed to the homeless, such as blankets toiletries, etc. So it appears as if she was also paying to have prescriptions filled under the same bill, or would use the company debit card for a transaction and request cash back. Since she discarded the types of receipts that could be used as evidence against her, it has been extremely difficult for the financial investigator to determine the exact amount taken. Further complicating matters, she would try to "pay back" the organization with frequent "personal donations". Overall, the amount missing was anywhere between $7,000 and $14,000. They also asked that she reimburse them for the cost of the investigation and their attorney's fees, which could be in the neighborhood of another 5-15k.
The charity organization asked her to attend inpatient drug rehab and intensive counseling for a year, which she agreed to do and has since completed. During that year, she and my brother also divorced. She has regained her emotional stability and has expressed a great deal of remorse, guilt, and shame. She genuinely seems to want to make this right. She was just hired to work full-time again in her field, and has expressed relief to have found a job that will enable her to make sizable restitution payments. She now has primary custody of their older daughter who is 9, and my brother moved several hours away and has their daughter every other weekend. I babysit the girl (my niece) after school while my sister-in-law works until 5pm, so I am quite close to the situation and feel very emotionally invested. My sister-in-law has met with the investigator and the board of directors several times to work towards a restitution plan. Last month, she told us that they would be getting back to her with the exact payment plan within 90 days, this had been determined in a meeting that involved organization's attorney, 4 board members, the private investigator, and my sister-in-law. At that meeting, they also said they'd be requesting that she make a formal apology to the organization, its donors, and recipients.
Well yesterday, she received a call on her cell while she was picking up her daughter at my house. It was a detective from the police department, saying that the organization had a sudden change of heart and decided to press criminal charges. The detective apparently stated that he needed to take her statement, and was meeting with the prosecutor who would be taking the case today. We are all a bit flabbergasted. None of us can afford to help her with an attorney, but she was told that one would be appointed for her. One hasn't been assigned yet as far as I know, so our family is in limbo.
No one in our family has ever faced criminal charges, and we are pretty unfamiliar with the court process in general. Can anyone tell me what we should expect as far as a trial goes, the length of time between a prosecutor "taking the case" and the time a trial would start, and what charges and sentencing might be like? We are all pretty shocked at this development, and we are most worried that she will one again be removed from her daughter's life in order to complete a jail sentence, and that custody will revert to my brother, uprooting my niece from her school and home to move across the state. Are we just freaking out, or is this the likely scenario? In cases like these, does it ever happen that the defendant is simply put on probation and ordered to pay restitution, or is jail-time mandatory? She plans to plead guilty unless her attorney strongly advises otherwise. Someone knowledgable, please help!
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