Mother, Son Admit Charity Was Bogus Two Lied To Get Tons Of Federal Food, Cash Donations
The founders of a bogus Spokane children’s charity pleaded guilty Friday to fraudulently obtaining federal food intended for poor people.
Letha Collins, 53, and her son, Darryl Hutchison, 32, admitted in U.S. District Court that they lied on federal forms when they said they had a soup kitchen for needy people.
“The crime here is that they stole food intended for the poor and homeless,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Rice.
“These are people in our society who can least afford to be victimized,” he said.
U.S. District Judge Frem Nielsen accepted the guilty pleas and set sentencing for May 3. The judge allowed Collins and Hutchison, who now live in Columbia Falls, Mont., to remain free without bond until sentencing.
They had no comment as they left the courthouse.
The pair lived in Mead and operated a charity they called QUESTS, claiming they were housing and feeding needy children and others.
The charity collected $200,000 in donations, including money from Spokane-area foundations, businesses and trusts.
QUESTS collected more than 100 tons of food from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the state of Washington and the Spokane Food Bank.
They also got free muffins from Costco and handed them out for cash donations at freeway rest stops across the state - collecting hundreds of dollars for their fake charity.
After a 1993 news report detailed the group’s activities, the state attorney general’s office and the U.S. Department of Justice launched investigations.
Last September, Collins was named in a 24-count federal indictment and Hutchison was accused in 20 counts.
They were scheduled to stand trial Monday after backing out of an initial plea bargain in early February.
Collins pleaded guilty to lying on a government form she filed on Sept. 14, 1990. On the form, Collins said she was feeding 56 abused, abandoned and neglected children at her home.
In a second felony count, she admitted lying to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the state of Washington when she applied to operate a “soup kitchen for 58 homeless persons.”
Neither the soup kitchen nor the homeless people existed, said Rice.
Instead, Collins and Hutchison sold, wasted or ate the federal food.
Hutchison pleaded guilty to two felony counts of knowingly receiving fraudulently obtained government food.
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