Ex-North Carolina Legislator Gets Probation for Homeless Shelter Spending

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) A former North Carolina state legislator and Winston-Salem City Council member was sentenced to five years of probation along with monetary penalties after pleading guilty to fraud for spending money from the homeless center organization he had led for personal use.

U.S. District Judge Loretta Biggs on Thursday accepted the guilty plea by Derwin Montgomery, 34, contained in an agreement he signed last fall to one count of program fraud. Fourteen other counts from an indictment filed against him last year were dismissed.

Biggs ordered Montgomery to pay $38,618 in restitution to the Bethesda Center for the Homeless and $22,270 for his probationary supervision, the Winston-Salem Journal reported. He was also placed on home detention for 120 days.

Montgomery served as the centers executive director for six years before he resigned in early 2021. The center had received at least $10,000 in federal assistance from the U.S. Small Business Administration in 2020, a court document shows.