Former Whitefish Housing Authority Admits Embezzlement, Pleads Guilty to Theft From Federally Funded Organization
Federal attorneys alleged that Hawkins stole money from the Whitefish Housing Authority in increments as large as $76,750
By Mike Kordenbrock
After he was indicted by a grand jury over the summer on charges brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Dwarne Lamont Hawkins admitted this week to embezzling more than $100,000 from the Whitefish Housing Authority (WHA), an organization for which he was the executive director for a little over a year.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced in a press release issued Wednesday afternoon that Hawkins, 46, has pleaded guilty to theft from an organization receiving federal funding, and that he faces a maximum of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release.
Hawkins led the Whitefish Housing Authority from January 2023 until March 2024. The U.S. Attorneys Office has alleged that Hawkins’ embezzlement from the housing authority began in May 2023, roughly four months after he began leading the Whitefish Housing Authority.
The Whitefish Housing Authority receives federal funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and is tasked with providing affordable housing options for low-income families in the Whitefish community, where the high cost of buying a home has led to a housing crisis in recent years.
Federal attorneys, relying on the results of an investigation conducted by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, have alleged that Hawkins stole money from the housing authority, in increments as large as $76,750 at a time by diverting and inflating the payroll, “fraudulently paying personal expenses” with the WHA credit card, and creating and paying “fraudulent invoices to businesses over which he had control,” according to Wednesday’s press release, which says investigators identified about $150,000 in restitution.
Hawkins had also been charged with five counts of wire fraud, but the U.S. Attorney’s office agreed to drop those counts in exchange for him pleading guilty to theft from an organization receiving federal funding. A sentencing hearing has been set for Feb. 7, 2025, and Hawkins has been released pending further proceedings, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
After the charges against Hawkins were reported on in August, the Whitefish Housing Authority said in a statement that it was actively cooperating with ongoing investigations and proceedings, and that it noticed and reported unauthorized financial transactions to authorities shortly after Hawkins left the Housing Authority in March 2024.