Former Finance Director Sentenced to Prison

BATON ROUGE, LA—Acting United States Attorney Walt Green announced today that U.S. District Judge James J. Brady sentenced Kiamani A. Beasley, age 28, of Jeanerette, Louisiana, to 12 months and a day imprisonment and 12 months of supervised release following imprisonment. The sentence results from Beasley’s conviction for embezzlement from a federally funded entity in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 666.

Beasley’s conviction stems from actions she took while serving as finance director of the Louisiana Association of Community Action Partners (LACAP), a non-profit organization that receives funding from the federal government’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Program. LACAP was established to organize and strengthen the 42 private and public Community Action Agencies (CAAs) in Louisiana. CAAs were established to address the effects and causes of poverty and to increase self-sufficiency among the poor. CAAs implemented many educational and health-oriented programs funded by the federal government. As finance director of LACAP, Beasley was responsible for overseeing the financial integrity of the organization, including the accounting and distribution of federal funds.

Beasley admitted that, while working for LACAP, she used her position of trust to embezzle $50,858, funds that were to be used for computer software training and weatherization services. Beasley further admitted to using the funds for her personal entertainment.

The investigation of this matter was conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy-Office of Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Reginald E. Jones.