Seattle, Washington FBI Bureau File - Paperless Archives

1 Debwa said a large number of cards were filled out at homeless shelters, and she was
not able to verify these cards. She started to see duplicate cards from the shelters,
2 and finally told the workers not to go to shelters anymore.
3 SDPA Hobbs showed Debwa a copy of a "termination memo." She explained that sometimes
after she fired someone she would let them come back in a week or two if they said
4 they were sorry.
5 Debwa explained how completed cards were delivered to King and Pierce counties. For
King County she mailed them all at the very end (ultimately, they were mailed late to
6 King County). For Pierce County she put the cards in a box and hand-delivered them.
It was not clear how often she did this, or if she did it personally or if someone
7 else delivered them. Debwa said for Pierce County she put a "sticky note" specifying
piles of good cards and piles of suspicious cards. She could not say if she did the
8 same for King County, but said that she called and spoke to a woman at King County and
explained this. She also said she kept notes, which she no longer has.
9
Debwa said that when the cards were delivered to Pierce County an employee would sign
10 for receipt of the cards. She said she would keep notes on what was said. Again, she
didn't have the notes.
11
Debwa said she had arguments with Pierce County people because they didn't want to
12 accept the duplicate cards. She said ACORN policy instructed that cards could not be
thrown away, so she left the cards with Pierce County despite their arguments.
13
Debwa went over the people who were working in September. She said Mitchell was hired
14 the first part of August and was there until the end. She said she didn't know him
before this job. She said Robert Green "robbed" her office, taking $150 work of bus
15 fair tickets. She filed a report with Tacoma PD and Green was fired. Kendra Thill
was hired around September. She didn't previously know Thill. Ryan Olson started
16 around the same time as Mitchell and worked until the end. She also said that Olson
lived with her for a short time and she still has some of his belongings. She
17 believes he is living with his mom in Seattle. Jayson Woods was hired towards the
end, and she was brought in by Tina Johnson after Debwa hired Johnson. Debwa said
18 that Johnson was part of a gang called "hatchet clowns," and it was thought that her
and other workers who were part of the gang sold drugs while they were working for
19 ACORN. Debwa did not expand on who the other workers were, or if Johnson did this and
if so why she was not fired.
20
Debwa was asked if she fired any of these people. She said she didn't fire anyone at
21 the end. Instead, they just got laid off because the office was closed down. Later,
it was pointed out that she completed termination letters on all of these subjects.
22 The letters were all dated near the last day the office was opened. Debwa implied
that she did this in the end to cover herself.
23
Debwa was asked what led her to believe there was a problem. She went back and forth
24 on this. She finally said that towards the end she was suddenly getting 1000+ cards
25
Certification for Determination
of Probable Cause
Norm Maleng
Prosecuting Attorney
W 554 King County Courthouse
Seattle, Washington 98104-2312
(206) 296-9000