The former president and CEO of a Los Angeles-based anti-poverty nonprofit agency was sentenced today to six months in federal prison for embezzling money from the nonprofit for his personal benefit, failing to report these funds on his tax returns, and intentionally misapplying more than $600,000 in grant money to pay for unauthorized expenses, according to a DOJ press release. Howard Dixon Slingerland of Studio City, Calif., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dolly M. Gee, who also ordered him to serve six months of home confinement, pay a fine of $10,000, pay $750,470 in restitution and to perform 200 hours of community service. Slingerland pleaded guilty on March 8 to one count of conversion and intentional misapplication of funds from an organization receiving federal money and one count of subscribing to a false federal income tax return. From 1996 until he was fired in September 2019, Slingerland led the Youth Policy Institute Inc. (YPI), a Hollywood-based nonprofit agency that worked to eradicate poverty, eventually becoming president and CEO. YPI operated in some of the highest needs neighborhoods in Los Angeles, running programs aimed at supporting youth education, development, safety, job training, and health and wellness. As the head of YPI, Slingerland had check-signing authority over YPI’s bank accounts and was the personal guarantor of YPI’s credit card. From January 2015 to February 2019, Slingerland caused at least $71,533 of YPI funds to be spent on unauthorized expenditures, including Slingerland’s personal property tax bill that exceeded $14,000; a Slingerland family dinner at an upscale New York City restaurant costing more than $6,000; private tutoring for a family member costing nearly $11,000; and a home computer and software valued at nearly $2,000.
