Loading...

Law & Order: Nonprofit Officials Enter Guilty Pleas

It’s three years’ probation and home confinement for a former nonprofit official. Steven F. Harvin, 53, of New Haven, Conn., was sentenced in federal district court in Hartford (Conn.) to serve 60 days of probation in home confinement for stealing almost $33,000 from Zezzo House Corp.

It is a federal case because of funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) program. The money are earmarked to benefit low-income people with HIV/AIDS.

Harvin was also ordered to perform 50 hours of community service. He was president of as Zezzo House Corp. from August 2015 to September 2016. Harvin waived his right to be indicted and pleaded guilty to one count of theft.

Investigators alleged that during eight months ending in August 2016, Harvin embezzled nearly $33,000 of the $70,722 that Zezzo received from HUD’s Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) program. He used cash withdrawals to spend on ineligible Zezzo House expenses and diverted Section 8 checks for his personal use.

Meanwhile in suburban Chicago, a Lombard, Ill., woman who operated a charity for veterans pled guilty to diverting donations for her personal use. That use included vet (as in veterinarian) bills for her dog.

Patricia Olshefski, 61, reportedly pleaded guilty last week to a felony charge of using charitable funds for personal use and was sentenced to 170 days in the county jail, according to court records.

She had been in county lock-up since her arrest in May and was thus released. She has two years of probation.

Her husband, Todd, is awaiting trial in the case. They ran the charity Veterans Christian Network, but authorities said the couple had been using donations for personal expenses.