Prominent Los Angeles Democrat fundraiser Dixon Slingerland was sentenced on December 12 to six months in federal prison followed by six months of home detention after pleading guilty earlier this year to embezzlement and filing false tax returns, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Slingerland, the former CEO of the Youth Policy Institute, was also ordered to pay a fine of $10,000 as well as $750,470 in restitution and do 200 hours of community service.
Slingerland, who was a prominent fundraiser and donor for Democrat candidates, was a frequent visitor to the Obama White House.
According to a January report in the Washington Free Beacon, Slingerland raised nearly $750,000 for Barack Obama’s two presidential campaigns.
Earlier this year, Slingerland admitted in a plea agreement to embezzling over $71,000 for the Youth Policy Institute, including using over $6,000 to buy dinner for his family at the high-end Manhattan restaurant Momofuku Ko.
Slingerland also admitted that he failed to report around $450,000 in income he received from the Youth Policy Institute on federal tax returns he filed from 2016 to 2019, and acknowledged that he owed the IRS $147,398 in unpaid taxes. He also admitted to misspending over $600,000 of the nonprofit’s funds and making personal purchases on the group’s American Express card.
Slingerland pleaded guilty in January to “conversion and intentional misapplication of funds from an organization receiving federal money” and filing false federal income tax returns, according to a statement from the Justice Department.
The Youth Policy Institute received tens of millions in federal funding during the Obama years and was frequently promoted by former Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.
The nonprofit was shut down in 2019 after an audit found inaccurate finance reports and a lack of oversight. Slingerland was fired from the group that same year.
In its 2019 Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing in federal court, the Youth Policy Institute accused Slingerland of using the nonprofit’s funds on personal and unauthorized expenses.
