Ex-commander of Idaho American Legion arraigned on $1.45M wire, tax fraud charges

An Idaho military veteran charged with multiple counts of fraud in connection with the disappearance of more than $1.45 million pleaded not guilty to all charges during his arraignment in Idaho federal court Wednesday.

Charles “Abe” Abrahamson, 56, a longtime Mountain Home resident, served six years as the Idaho American Legion’s senior executive overseeing the nonprofit’s finances, and also a year as the organization’s commander. After members of its leadership team noticed irregularities, including in Legion checking and savings accounts, the nonprofit suspended him from his paid financial role in April 2024 and launched an internal investigation.

Abrahamson was indicted late last year by a Boise grand jury on eight felony counts, including wire fraud and tax fraud. Each of the five counts of wire fraud carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison, and a fine of $250,000, U.S. Magistrate Judge Debora Grasham told Abrahamson Wednesday. Each of the three counts of tax fraud carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison, and a fine of $250,000, she advised the defendant.

If convicted, Abrahamson also faces forfeiture of all property and proceeds to account for the more than $1.45 million in Legion funds at issue, Grasham added. He acknowledged he understood the charges and possible punishments.

Abrahamson was arrested in southwest Florida, where he relocated, and made his initial appearance in a federal court in Fort Myers, Florida, in mid-December. He was released under conditions and his passport seized, according to court records. He was ordered to return to Idaho to face the felony charges.

Wearing blue jeans and a gray Texas Longhorns hooded sweatshirt, Abrahamson sat before Grasham for the seven-minute hearing as she read him his rights and laid out the felony counts. His wife, Robin Abrahamson, accompanied him to the arraignment.

Abrahamson was represented at the hearing by Boise criminal defense attorney Charles Crafts, who he retained after a federal judge in Florida denied the defendant’s request for a public defender last month. Asked by Grasham on Wednesday whether he could afford an attorney, Abrahamson confirmed that he could.

Sean Mazorol, an assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Idaho, is prosecuting the case. The IRS criminal investigations team helped bring forward the charges, the Idaho U.S. Attorney’s Office previously said.

Grasham permitted Abrahamson to remain free outside of custody under the conditions previously set by the Florida federal judge. She scheduled his jury trial for March 2 in Boise before U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill.

‘Trust, but verify’

Also in attendance at Wednesday morning’s brief hearing were about two dozen members of the Idaho American Legion, including several members of its executive leadership team. They filled the rows of the opposing side of the small federal courtroom as Abrahamson swiveled lightly in his seat at the defense table and responded to several standard arraignment questions.

Bob Skinner, 78, of Idaho Falls, who is the Idaho American Legion’s national executive committeeman, was among those who traveled to Boise to attend Abrahamson’s hearing. He and Abrahamson had been close friends before the allegations of fraud that have crippled the statewide nonprofit that counts about 100 local chapters and 8,000 military veterans as members.

When Legion leadership learned of issues with tax payments and nonprofit finances, they asked Abrahamson for records showing the organization’s books. Abrahamson provided them documents, but they turned out to be fabricated and the accounts all nearly cleaned out, Skinner previously told the Idaho Statesman.

“I’d have trusted him with my life. I had no idea he was doing what he was doing,” Skinner told the Statesman in an interview after Wednesday’s hearing. “We learn in the military to trust, but verify. And we thought we were verifying because we had all the documents, but the documents were forged now we’re finding out.”

In his role as the statewide nonprofit’s national committeeman, Skinner said, he has kept Idaho’s four federal lawmakers updated on the investigation into Abrahamson during annual trips to Washington, D.C. Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, in his role as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, has direct oversight of the IRS and has followed the case, Skinner said.

Crapo and fellow U.S. Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, recognized Abrahamson for various honors between 2019 and 2023. In 2020, Crapo named him to a list of Spirit of Freedom recipients, an annual award the senator gives to individuals who have provided outstanding service to Idaho military veterans.

“The services provided to veterans and fellow citizens by funds from organizations like the American Legion are revered in communities across Idaho and our nation,” Crapo previously said in a statement to the Statesman in June 2024. “My office trusts the recommendations of the nominating organization and their value of the individual at the time, and it is not a predictor of behaviors or changes that may occur years after the recognition.”

Crapo was not involved in any part of the criminal investigation or proceedings tied to Abrahamson, Melanie Lawhorn, his spokesperson, told the Statesman on Wednesday. “He remains supportive of Idaho’s American Legion and its advocacy on behalf of our nation’s servicemember heroes and their families,” she said.

Risch’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

Before he ascended to leadership roles in the Idaho American Legion, Abrahamson had a history of fraud convictions, a Statesman investigation found. He received deferred sentences of 17 years in state prison in separate cases for passing thousands of dollars in bad checks in the late 1990s into the early 2000s, and given probation.

Following probation violations in 2003 when an ex-girlfriend and her friends accused Abrahamson of stealing tens of thousands of dollars in a fake investment scheme, he served about seven years of his prior prison sentences before he was paroled in December 2010, according to Idaho Department of Correction records. His full sentence was discharged in July 2014.

Abrahamson joined the Idaho American Legion and started managing its finances in August 2017.