According to a official release from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)Howard Dixon Slingerland, a Studio City resident, has agreed to plead guilty to two counts: intentional conversion and misapplication of funds from an organization that receives federal money and underwriting a false federal tax return.
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Slingerland served as President and CEO of the Youth Policy Institute Inc. (YPI) from 1996 to September 2019. The nonprofit group worked to eradicate poverty in high-risk areas throughout Los Angeles County, California.
According to the IRS, Slingerland participated in its embezzlement scheme between 2015 and February 2019. During that time period, the defendant authorized at least $71,533 of YPI funds to be spent on unauthorized expenses, including his tax bill to personal property totaling $14,000, more than $6,000 for a private family dinner at a New York City restaurant, approximately $11,000 for school tutoring for a family member, and nearly $2,000 for a home computer system.
In July 2019, Slingerland used $401,561 in funds YPI had received from a federal grant to cover YPI’s payroll. Also that month, he authorized the illegal use of $201,466 in federal grant money to pay YPI’s credit card bills, which included many of his own personal expenses.
Slingerland admitted to reporting less than $100,000 a year of his income to the IRS between 2015 and 2018. He owes the US Treasury Department an estimated $147,398 in back taxes.
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After Slingerland’s guilty plea is officially entered, he will face a maximum statutory sentence of 10 years in federal prison on the conversion charge and three years in federal prison on the tax charge.
The date of Slingerland’s next court appearance has not been confirmed.
Slingerland’s arrest is the result of a joint investigation between several agencies: IRS Criminal Investigation; the FBI; the US Department of Labor Office of the Inspector General; the Office of the Inspector General of the United States Department of Education; the Office of the Inspector General of the United States Department of Justice; and the Los Angeles Unified School District.
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