Ex-Leader of Charity for Disabled Gets 10 Years in Prison, Must Pay $65 Million

Feb. 18, 2011, 5:15 p.m. EST

Yesterday, a judge sentenced the former CEO of an El Paso charity to 10 years in prison and $65 million in restitution for corruption and embezzlement involving the federal government’s biggest jobs program for the disabled.

The sentence is the result of a federal probe launched after a 2006 investigation by reporters Les Zaitz, Jeff Kosseff, Byan Denson and photographer Faith Cathcart at The (Portland) Oregonian. Examining charities that hired the disabled nationwide, they found non-profit executives were cashing in huge paychecks while their disabled workers made pennies an hour.

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