COEUR d'ALENE - A Bonner County woman who embezzled from the founders of a humanitarian relief organization that helps AIDS victims in Africa was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison on Thursday.

April Leigh Mathews, 40, will have to pay $109,486 in restitution as well as five years of supervised probation after her release, Senior Judge Justin L. Quackenbush ruled.

The stealing wasn't a one-time lapse in judgment, the judge said, rather a meticulous, daily operation that warranted the prison term.

"It is most serious because it was an ongoing breach of trust," Quackenbush told Mathews. "This wasn't a one-time mistake you made."  More here. Tom Hasslinger/Cda Press

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