The former executive director of a Tacoma nonprofit that provides job training to 21 member tribes was sentenced this week to five months in prison for embezzling nearly $100,000 in federal funds, court records show.
Debbie Rawle, 69, led the now-defunct Western Washington Indian Employment Training Program for several years until October 2019, a month after a U.S. Department of Labor unit began investigating suspicious purchases made using the nonprofit’s debit card at a Macy’s, the United States Attorney’s Office. Desk said.
Rawle pleaded guilty in October to embezzlement that extended beyond personal purchases at the department store, including an above-ground swimming pool and cedar pavilion from Costco and motorcycle accessories from Amazon.
The funds used came from dollars paid to the nonprofit through the Labor Department’s Employment and Training Administration, Division of Indian and Native American Programs. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the nonprofit received more than $1.4 million in federal money in 2018 and 2019 to provide employment and training services to eligible tribal members.
Rawle, who agreed to repay the $99,990 she embezzled, would serve her sentence at the federal detention center in Seattle, federal court records show. She was also sentenced to three years of supervised release.
Vicki Kruger, an elder with the Squaxin Island Tribe and a former board member of the nonprofit, said Thursday during Rawle’s sentencing hearing that Rawle’s actions caused significant harm and took away money intended for tribal members to improve their lives, according to the US Attorney’s Office. .
“As the program’s former executive director, Rawle betrayed the trust of those she served by personally enriching herself with those funds,” Kruger said.
The charge Rawle pleaded guilty to – embezzlement from a program that received federal funds – carried a penalty of up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Rawle’s counsel asked the court to impose only probation, with requirements that she continue mental health care, according to a sentencing memo filed in federal court. The filing noted that Rawle faced lifelong mental health issues and trauma, with the embezzlement occurring during her darkest period, when she was suffering from domestic violence, substance abuse and suicidal thoughts.
In August, her adult son died.
“I carry this burden with me every waking moment and the pain is equivalent to losing my son. I only wish I had done things much differently than I did,” Rawle said in a statement accompanying the memo. “I ask for forgiveness every day from my higher power and from my family and a few friends that I still have.”
