Lori Isenberg accepts plea deal on wire fraud, theft charges

A Coeur d’Alene woman has agreed to a plea deal on charges that she committed three counts of wire fraud and stole almost $580,000 from the federal government.

According to court documents, Laurence “Lori” Isenberg began the theft starting in 2015, while she was the executive director of the nonprofit Northern Idaho Housing Coalition. Isenberg’s daughters pleaded guilty in October to accepting the money – which was meant to help low-income families afford housing – from Isenberg.

The plea deal, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Idaho, states that Isenberg could face up to 20 years and fines of $250,000 for all of the charges.

Reached by phone Wednesday, Isenberg’s attorney, Jed Keller Nixon, declined to comment.

The agreement would require Isenberg to pay back $579,496 in restitution to the nonprofit.

She does not have a prior criminal history, but Isenberg remains a suspect in her husband’s suspicious death in February, when she said he fell off their boat and drowned. Autopsy results show that he had lethal levels of Benadryl in his system.