Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more!
Rachel Dolezal, White Woman Pretending To Be Black, Booked On Welfare Fraud Charges
She was allegedly reporting her income as only $500 per month while receiving state benefits, but authorities say she was earning much more.
Rachel Dolezal, the white woman who made international headlines for pretending to be black while heading her local NAACP chapter, was booked and released at a Washington state jail Monday as she awaits trial for for welfare fraud and other charges, KHQ in Spokane reported.
Dolezal, who changed her name to Nkechi Diallo in 2016, previously pleaded not guilty to first-degree theft by welfare fraud, making false verification and second-degree perjury in June.
The disgraced former NAACP leader allegedly illegally received over $8,800 in food and childcare assistance between 2015 and 2017. She deposited almost $84,000 into the bank during that period, according to police. Meanwhile, she was reporting her income as only $500 per month.
Last month, the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services began investigating Dolezal after they got wind that she had recently published a book, her autobiography "In Full Color." An investigator with the department knew that a book contract typically included advance payments, KHQ reported.
The money that Dolezal deposited into her account is believed to have been from the book, speaking engagements, soap-making, doll-making and art sales.
"The state of Washington seeks prosecution and restitution in this matter. In addition, the Department requests Nkechi Diallo be disqualified from receiving Food Assistance for at least a 12 month period for breaking a Food Assistance rule on purpose,” court documents state. “This is known as an Intentional Program Violation."
Her trial has been set for September 10. She could face as many as 15 years behind bars if convicted.
Dolezal became infamous in 2015 after she was outed as a white woman. She has since called herself transracial. Dolezal lost her position as head of the NAACP in Spokane and was removed from a police ombudsman commission. She also lost her African Studies teaching job at Eastern Washington University.
[Photo: Getty Images]
