Ex-nonprofit leader gets 15 months for embezzling more than $240,000

SAN FRANCISCO (CN) — A federal judge Wednesday sentenced a former nonprofit leader to 15 months for embezzling more than $240,000 from the San Francisco-based organization where she previously worked.

Athena Harven, 56, served as the director of operations for Together, United, Recommitted, Forever, a nonprofit organization that provided academic support and employment assistance to students in the San Francisco neighborhoods of Sunnydale and Visitacion Valley.

She was indicted in July 2023 on four counts of wire fraud. The government claimed Harven used her access to TURF’s banking accounts to divert money intended for payroll taxes for her own personal enrichment.

In October, Harven pleaded guilty to four counts of fraud as part of a plea agreement. According to the agreement, between April 2015 and December 2018, Harven deposited more than 100 checks she wrote herself into personal bank accounts to spend on everyday costs, travel, online shopping and business expenses for her bakery.

To cover her tracks, Harven said she forged the signature of TURF’s executive director on many of the checks and included “payroll taxes” on the memo line. She also created multiple fake email addresses and intercepted emails from the state regarding TURF’s unpaid payroll taxes.

When confronted with evidence of her actions, Harven admitted she tried to blame TURF’s executive director, saying he told her to embezzle the funds and send the money to himself.

Harven further admitted that her actions led TURF to owe hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid taxes and were a “significant factor” in the organization shutting down in early 2019.

As part of the agreement, Harven agreed to pay $241,000 in restitution to TURF and its former insurer.

At the sentencing hearing, the defense asked U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer, a Bill Clinton appointee, for time served, citing Harven’s traumatic childhood, untreated depression and alcoholism.

Daniel Blank, Harven’s public defender, also spoke about how Harven had turned her life around following the indictment and now works full time running the kitchen of a drug treatment facility. She additionally cares for her adult children, grandchildren and elderly mother, who is currently going through cancer treatment, he said.

“You have to sentence the person standing in front of you, and Ms. Harven is not the same person she was then,” he said.

Blank further stressed the extended time period between when the offenses were completed in 2018 and Harven’s indictment in 2023, telling the judge that Harven had committed no crimes in those five years, continued her sobriety and worked with San Francisco Recreation and Parks to teach children how to cook and bake.

“She is now a very different person standing before you, through no fault of her own, almost a decade since that crime occurred,” he said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Parker told Breyer that Harven’s case was initially referred to a local prosecutor’s office, which declined to prosecute. The federal government was added to the case in early 2020 after the Department of Housing and Urban Development got involved, which TURF had previously received funding from, he explained.

The government recommended a 24-month sentence followed by three years of supervised release, based on the nature of Harven’s actions and sentences for similar offenses.

Breyer called Harven a “hard worker” and credited her for securing full-time employment and turning her life around. However, he said he was concerned about not imposing any punitive action.

“My instincts would say she’s learned her lesson, and she ought to continue on that path. On the other hand, if someone takes that amount of money, you can’t simply say, ‘OK, good luck, stay on the straight and narrow!’ There has to be a punitive angle,” he said, adding, “The balance is how much punishment is necessary for the offense that does not essentially throw her off the path of rehabilitation.”

Harven, wearing a red San Francisco 49ers varsity jacket, apologized to the court for her actions before the sentence was read.

“I know that this caused TURF great hardship and a lot of trouble. All I can say now is I apologize for what I did,” she said.

Harven will be required to surrender within 90 days.

Following the hearing, Harven and her lawyer declined to comment. A representative for the Department of Justice also declined to comment.

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