Spokane Tribe of Indians former employee sentenced to a year in prison for embezzlement

A judge sentenced a former Spokane Tribe of Indians employee to a year in prison on Wednesday for embezzling thousands of dollars from the tribe.

Tawhnee W. Colvin, of Davenport, was an assistant director of the Spokane Tribe of Indians’ Department of Health and Human Services and Division of Child and Family Services and had access to the tribe’s bank account. She made more than 70 transfers from the tribe’s account, which held funds for foster children, to her own personal account.

Colvin was fired in October 2023 but continued to transfer funds, totaling more than $100,000, according to a previous news release from Eastern Washington’s U.S. Attorney’s Office. She was charged with 25 counts of bank fraud.

After serving her sentence, Colvin will be on probation for five years and is expected to pay back the money she took.

“The Spokane Tribe thanks the men and women of our law enforcement community for their diligence and hard work in prosecuting this case in the pursuit of justice,” the tribe said in a news release.