Posted on 01/25/2002 8:52:12 PM PST by ValerieUSA
Don Dudley, a fixture in local government, schools and nonprofit organizations, is scheduled to go on trial Tuesday for the alleged theft of $44,178 from the Epilepsy Foundation of Washington.
Dudley, 64, has denied the criminal charge and said news coverage will destroy his reputation and livelihood.
"I'm a single dad with four kids," he said. "I've got to work."
King County Prosecuting Attorney Norm Maleng charged Dudley in August with one count of first-degree theft. The maximum sentence, if convicted, is three months in jail.
Dudley was executive director of the state Epilepsy Foundation from April 1999 to December 2000, when an internal audit accused him of using charity funds for his personal use. He was fired, and the foundation called police.
"When confronted, Dudley stated that he had been suffering from a personal and financial crisis," according to an affidavit by Seattle police Detective Kerry Hays.
The Epilepsy Foundation says Dudley has paid back about $17,000.
Dudley is president-elect of Schools First, a pro-levy group for Seattle public schools; a director and former treasurer of a national group called the Cross City Campaign for Urban School Reform; and a member of the gubernatorial Washington Special Education Advisory Council.
Dudley, who has an autistic child, is also active in an autism group.
From April 1978 to July 1980, Dudley was director of the Seattle Department of Human Resources under Mayor Charles Royer.
Dudley's City Council confirmation was delayed by questions about debts and lawsuits at KYAC-AM, the radio station he owned. Bankruptcies were filed on the radio station, a restaurant and Dudley's personal finances in 1980.
Dudley said he left city employment to study for the ministry. He was director of public and governmental relations for Volunteers of America, a national Christian service organization.
Dudley later became executive director of the Central Area's Unified Community Economic Development Association, a nonprofit agency with a budget of about $500,000 a year for development and low-income housing projects.
Dudley is also active in the Mount Zion Baptist Church and teaches Bible study.
According to the police affidavit filed by the prosecutor in court, Dudley used Epilepsy Foundation debit or credit cards "extensively for personal travel, at restaurants, for rental cars (including $2,000 for a car purchase), and other personal items. No receipts or justifications were given for any of the debits and charges in question."
The filing said that the foundation board was not told of the use of funds for personal purposes and that the foundation forbids loans to directors, officers or members. Dudley told the foundation's bookkeeper he no longer needed to make monthly statements to the board, according to the filing.
"Monthly bank statements were never shown to the Board or Finance Committee and when they were eventually found, 'Don' written in Dudley's handwriting was found after many of the personal charges," the affidavit said.
"According to (the foundation's) audit, the charges/debits with Don after them total $21,188.89. An audit of all the charges/debits deemed to be personal comes to $44,178.48."
In a brief telephone interview this week, Dudley pleaded for time to prove his innocence.
"This has been hanging over me for a while, and it wasn't until several months afterward that these allegations were trumped up," he said.
"I need the opportunity without prejudice to respond to them, and if I'm unable to do that to the satisfaction of a court and jury, then I'm fair game. But beforehand (publicity) would punish me far more than this proceeding will."
The state Epilepsy Foundation's board president, Robin Bender Ginn, and executive director, Joel Neier, sent a letter to more than 1,000 supporters this week informing them of the "unfortunate event."
"We also wanted to assure you that the Foundation is financially sound," they wrote.
The foundation, with a budget of about $250,000 a year, is funded by United Way, King County, the state and the public.
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