Topline: The former executive director of a federally-funded housing authority in North Carolina recently pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit theft of a federal program. She will serve two years in prison and pay $232,488 in restitution.
Prosecutors claimed Debbie Norris Woodell, 64, paid her husband’s company for work that was never completed and took kitchen appliances meant for low-income tenants.
Key facts: Woodell had been working for the Dunn Housing Authority since 1989 and was promoted to executive director in 2014. The authority receives about $1 million per year from the federal government to provide affordable housing to low-income families, seniors and individuals with disabilities.
A federal audit concluded that Woodell exploited the housing authority’s money, along with her husband, Kevin Lee Tyson. She allegedly provided fake invoices, fake bidding documents and signatures, and false information to the board of commissioners, paying her husband’s maintenance company more than $200,000 for unapproved jobs.
She also allegedly stole over $4,000 by using her city credit card for personal purchases, including equipment for her ATV, according to prosecutors.
Her husband pleaded guilty to conspiring to steal federal money and was sentenced to three years of supervised release. He’ll also have to repay $207,233.
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Critical quote: “Woodell stole those dollars, robbing both taxpayers and indigent recipients of America’s generosity,” Ellis Boyle, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, said in a press release. “We will continue to hold greedy fraudsters accountable and ensure that criminals who exploit public programs face serious consequences. Cheaters. Never. Win.”
Background: Woodell was not the only North Carolina housing director recently wrapped up in a fraud scheme.
JoAnn Johnson Davis, former executive director of the Chatham County Housing Authority, pleaded guilty of conspiring to commit wire fraud in 2024. She allegedly created false bid proposals using stolen identities and fake company letterhead, rigging the bidding process and awarding more than $200,000 in contracts to her friends and family members for non-existent jobs while receiving kickbacks.
Davis was sentenced to 30 months in prison and ordered to repay $194,136 to HUD.
Summary: There are plenty of conflicting viewpoints on how to make housing more affordable, but forging invoices and stealing money is not one of them.
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