Global Courant
A former North Carolina state legislator and member of the Winston-Salem City Council was sentenced to five years of probation and monetary fines after pleading guilty to fraud for spending money from the homeless shelter organization he had run for personal use.
U.S. District Judge Loretta Biggs on Thursday accepted the guilty plea of Derwin Montgomery, 34, contained in an agreement he signed last fall to one count of program fraud. Fourteen other counts of an indictment filed against him last year were dismissed.
Biggs ordered Montgomery to pay $38,618 in restitution to the Bethesda Center for the Homeless and $22,270 for his probation, the Winston-Salem Journal reported. He was also placed under house arrest for 120 days.
Montgomery served as the center’s executive director for six years before stepping down in early 2021. The center had received at least $10,000 in federal aid from the U.S. Small Business Administration in 2020, a court document shows.
“This is a serious case because it involves an abuse of public trust,” assistant attorney Joanna McFadden told Biggs in court. “Taxpayers in this country need to know that their money is being used appropriately by non-profit organizations that receive federal money.”
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Montgomery, a Democrat, was elected to the Winston-Salem City Council in 2009 while a student at Winston-Salem State University. He moved into state house in 2018 to fill a vacancy and won a two-year term later that year. He was an unsuccessful primary candidate for the 6th congressional district seat in 2020.
Montgomery told Biggs in court that he was sorry for what had happened.
A former North Carolina state legislator and former member of the Winston-Salem City Council has been sentenced to five years probation and ordered to pay restitution.
“This is hard,” Montgomery said. “I am sorry for my actions that brought me here. I ask for your mercy in this matter.” Biggs said she was moved by letters from local residents urging her to put Montgomery on probation.
A court document that served as the factual basis for the plea deal said Montgomery converted center funds for its own personal use from or about 2018 and through 2020. They include about $5,100 associated with Montgomery’s travels and more than $6,500 for the lease of an SUV.
In 2020, Montgomery charged the center approximately $23,000 for marketing and media services allegedly performed by his own company in violation of its conflict of interest policy, and despite the fact that the center was already receiving such services as a charitable donation, it said. document.
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The indictment had alleged that Montgomery charged the shelter for airline tickets to Cancun, Mexico, for a vacation with a romantic partner, stays in luxury hotels and expenses at a Las Vegas strip club.
