Isenberg pleads to fraud, theft

COEUR d’ALENE — The former director of the North Idaho Housing Coalition pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court to three counts of wire fraud and one count of federal program theft for embezzling more than a half million dollars from the coalition where she worked.

Dressed in yellow prison garb, Laurcene “Lori” Isenberg, 65, told U.S. District Judge Edward L. Lodge that she understood the charges and proceedings, that she was not being coerced into pleading guilty and that she understood the possible sentence — which could include 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for the three counts of wire fraud, and up to 10 years and a $250,000 fine for defrauding a federal program.

Isenberg pleaded not guilty in October, but a month later, a plea agreement was filed in federal court.

Lodge set sentencing for 1:30 p.m., April 30 in Coeur d’Alene’s federal courthouse.

The judge told Isenberg he isn’t bound by the plea agreement that calls for Isenberg to pay $579,495.75 in restitution, and forfeit any assets, including property tied to the crime. He said the sentences could run concurrently, and that his decision won’t be publicized until the hearing.

Isenberg was arrested a year ago and charged in Kootenai County’s First District Court with felony grand theft after Coeur d’Alene Police found enough evidence to accuse her of embezzling more than $500,000 from the coalition. The Coeur d’Alene-based nonprofit, where Isenberg worked for more than a decade, receives federal funding to secure affordable housing for low-income families.

After being charged, Isenberg jumped bail for several months before turning herself in to authorities last summer. She was indicted in October by a federal grand jury, which moved the case from the state into the federal court.

According to the charging documents read aloud in court Tuesday, Isenberg “Beginning in 2015 and continuing until February 2018 ... knowingly devised and engaged in a scheme and artifice to defraud the (North Idaho Housing) Coalition, the IHFA (Idaho Housing and Finance Association) and HUD (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development) … to obtain money for herself and others.”

Two of Isenberg’s daughters, Amber Annette Hosking, 39, and Jessica Fay Barnes, 36, convicted of assisting their mother in carrying out the crimes, were sentenced Tuesday in federal court for conspiracy to commit federal program theft.

Hosking and Barnes were sentenced to three years probation and 100 hours of community service. Hosking was ordered to pay $16,500 restitution and Barnes must pay $15,500 in restitution.

Isenberg, who is in custody at the Bonner County Jail, is a also a person of interest in a Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office investigation into the death of her husband, Larry Isenberg, 68, whose body was found floating in Lake Coeur d’Alene weeks after Isenberg reported he fell from the couple’s boat during an early morning boat ride.

Although Isenberg maintains her husband died after falling into the water, an autopsy shows he died from an overdose of Benadryl.