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Cop & Robber

Charles P. Allen, the police chief in Granite Falls, Wash., for 17 years, quit to run a non-profit organization he “inherited” from his mother. “People Helping People” served as a “representative payee” for Social Security beneficiaries who were unable to manage their own finances, usually due to mental illness. Allen was supposed to pay their bills and collect $33 to $72 a month from each client. Instead, Allen took an average of $10,000 to $14,000 a month for personal expenses, such as gambling debts, alimony payments, and paying family members a salary for doing no work. Allen eventually closed the charity when it ran out of money, leaving its clients without the funds they had entrusted to him to pay their bills. “Over the course of his career, Allen likely helped put countless people in jail for thefts that pale in comparison to his own conduct,” said Special Assistant U.S. Attorney C. Seth Wilkinson. Allen has been sentenced to 5 years for embezzling more than $625,000. One woman, who had regularly had her utilities cut off for non-payment, tried to meet with Allen. “I had the door literally slammed in my face,” she said. (MS/Seattle Post-Intelligencer) ...He’ll get to know how that feels — as often as every day for the rest of his life.