Isenberg, daughters have days in court

COEUR d’ALENE — On the same day Lori Isenberg’s daughters pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy to commit theft, U.S. attorneys filed a motion to prevent their mother from being released before her trial for any reason.

The motion for detention filed Tuesday says “a serious risk exists that [Lori Isenberg] will flee.” The document filed in U.S. District Court says “… there are no conditions of release that will reasonably assure the appearance of the defendant” and cites “The weight of the evidence against the defendant” and “The history and characteristics of the defendant” as justification for the detention request.

Earlier this year, Isenberg skipped town after being charged with allegedly stealing half a million dollars from the nonprofit North Idaho Housing Coalition, where she had served as director for almost a decade. After authorities and bounty hunters failed to capture her, Isenberg turned herself in on July 25 and has since been held on $500,000 bond.

On Oct. 25, the federal government took control of the case from Kootenai County. They say Isenberg “obtained and controlled at least $579,000 in unrecovered property” and are charging her with three counts of felony wire fraud and one count of federal program theft of grant funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Each count of wire fraud is punishable by up to 20 years in prison and $250,000 in fines. Federal program theft is punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment and $250,000 in fines.

According to the Spokesman-Review, two of Isenberg’s daughters, Jessica Fay Barnes and Amber Annette Hosking, pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count each of conspiracy to commit federal program theft. The newspaper’s reporting Tuesday night indicated that Isenberg funneled federal money to her daughters.

According to The Press’s earlier reporting, a warrant filed in July in Superior Court in Spokane, where the daughters lived, indicated that the daughters were under investigation for conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and first-degree theft. Isenberg, 64, is a suspect in the disappearance and suspicious death of her husband, 68-year-old Larry Isenberg, in February.

After Lori Isenberg claimed her husband had fallen off the couple’s boat on a frigid February morning on Lake Coeur d’Alene, The Press reported on July 13 that Larry Isenberg didn’t drown, as his wife had assured Kootenai County sheriff’s investigators. A coroner’s report showed that Larry Isenberg died from a massive overdose of diphenhydramine toxicity, better known as Benadryl.

Lori Isenberg’s daughters are from a previous marriage.

While the murder case is still under investigation, Lori Isenberg is scheduled to appear via videoconference this morning at 9 in U.S. District Court in Coeur d’Alene on charges stemming from her alleged embezzlement.