The former executive director of a Tacoma nonprofit offering job training to 21 member tribes was sentenced this week to five months in custody 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 division of the U.S. Department of Labor began investigating suspicious purchases from the nonprofit’s debit card at a Macy’s, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Rawle pleaded guilty in October to embezzlement that extended beyond personal purchases made at the department store, including an above-ground swimming pool and cedar pavilion from Costco and motorcycle accessories from Amazon.
The funds used stemmed from dollars paid to the nonprofit through the Labor Department’s Employment and Training Administration, Division of Indian and Native American Programs. In 2018 and 2019, the nonprofit received more than $1.4 million in federal money to provide employment and training services to eligible tribal members, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Rawle, who agreed to pay the $99,990 back that she embezzled, was scheduled to 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 former board member of the nonprofit, said during Rawle’s sentencing hearing Thursday that Rawle’s actions caused substantial harm and took away from money meant for tribal members to better their lives, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“As the former executive director of the program, Rawle violated 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 receiving federal funds — carried a sentence up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Rawle’s defense counsel asked the court to impose only probation with requirements that she continue mental health treatment, according to a sentencing memo filed in federal court. The filing noted that Rawle faced lifelong mental health struggles and trauma, with the embezzlement occurring at her darkest period when she suffered 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 equals the loss of my son. I only wish I had done things much more differently than I did,” Rawle said in a statement within the memo. “I ask daily for forgiveness to my higher power and from my family and a few friends that I have left.”
