Lori Isenberg Pleads Guilty to Over $570,000 in Wire Fraud and Federal Program Theft

COEUR D’ALENE – Laurecene (Lori) Barnes Isenberg, 65, of Coeur d’Alene, pleaded guilty yesterday to three counts of wire fraud and one count of theft from a federal program, U.S. Attorney Bart M. Davis announced.  Isenberg’s sentencing is set for April 30, 2019, before Senior U.S. District Judge Edward J. Lodge at the federal courthouse in Coeur d’Alene.

According to court records, Isenberg admitted to stealing $579,495.75 from the North Idaho Housing Coalition, an organization that was funded, in part, with grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development administered through the Idaho Housing and Finance Association.  Isenberg was the Coalition’s executive director when she engaged in a scheme with her four daughters to submit false invoices and expenses to the Coalition for payment.  These invoices were often submitted in the names of companies she set up in her daughters’ names.  Isenberg provided her daughters with some of the money she took.

Two of Isenberg’s daughters, Amber Hosking, 40, of Spirit Lake, Idaho, and Jessica Barnes, 32, of Spokane Valley, Washington, were sentenced yesterday by Judge Lodge for conspiracy to commit federal program fraud.  The criminal charge stemmed from their participation in the wire fraud and federal program theft scheme with Isenberg.  Hosking admitted receiving $16,500 from the scheme.  Jessica Barnes admitted receiving $15,500 from the scheme.  Both women admitted they received money for work they did not do.  Judge Lodge sentenced Hosking and Barnes each to three years’ probation and 100 hours of community service.  Judge Lodge also ordered Hosking and Barnes to pay $16,500 and $15,500 in restitution, respectively.  Their sentencings occurred at the federal courthouse in Coeur d’Alene.

Isenberg’s other two daughters, Tracy Tesch, 34, of Rathdrum, Idaho, and April Barnes, 42, of Coeur d’Alene, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit program theft earlier today.  That criminal charge stemmed from their participation in the wire fraud and federal program theft scheme with Isenberg.  Tesch admitted to receiving approximately $15,300 from the scheme.  April Barnes admitted to receiving about $11,500 from the scheme.  Sentencing for both Barnes and Tesch is set for May 1, 2019, before Judge Lodge at the federal courthouse in Coeur d’Alene.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Coeur d’Alene City Police Department.

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